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Daybreaker
by
Daybreaker Image
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

  • Summary: The English singer-songwriter's third LP features quite an array of guests, including Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, and the Chemical Brothers (who have utilized Orton's vocals on several of their own albums). Another longtime collaborator, William Orbit, appears for one track, with theThe English singer-songwriter's third LP features quite an array of guests, including Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, and the Chemical Brothers (who have utilized Orton's vocals on several of their own albums). Another longtime collaborator, William Orbit, appears for one track, with the remainder of the mixing duties falling to Everything But The Girl's Ben Watt.… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Neumu.net
    90
    Daybreaker bears all the strengths and beauty of the earlier Orton CDs, but it also shows some growth.
  2. Mixer
    80
    Daybreaker is Orton's ultimate heartstring-pulling concoction. [Jul 2002, p.80]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Billboard
    80
    Orton has a flair for penning languid, spacious songs whose forlorn characters seem as adrift as the music's fleeting acoustic guitar chords and absentminded piano tinkles.
  4. Vibe
    70
    Daybreaker is no less gripping for its optimism. [Sep 2002, p.250]
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  5. Entertainment Weekly
    67
    This time, the arrangements that envelop Orton's ruminations on various ill-suited partners are too hazy and languid.
  6. Uncut
    60
    At their best, Orton's songs do achieve what Daybreaker sets out to achieve--a sense of watching the dawn rise, all hyper and half awake from having been up all night arguing, making love or simply conversing intensely. [Sep 2002, p.108]
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  7. Drawer B
    40
    Orton seems to be embracing the humdrum, schlocky sound of New Age crooners and adult contemporary mush like Dido.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. KeithY.
    Aug 11, 2002
    10
    Fantastic! Must buy!
  2. Tinnitus
    Jul 21, 2013
    9
    Orton's strongest and most satisfying outing to date, Daybreaker achieves that rare balance of musical diversity and thematic cohesion. ChoiceOrton's strongest and most satisfying outing to date, Daybreaker achieves that rare balance of musical diversity and thematic cohesion. Choice collaborations with the likes of Ryan Adams, Emmy Lou Harris and Johnny Marr extend Orton's artistic range. But it's the production that elevates this record, with Victor Van Vugt, William Orbit, the Chemical Brothers, Ben Watt and Orton herself contributing to an overall intensity and warmth that eclipses 1999s Central Reservation. Listen to: "Mount Washington", a slow motion launch into a haze of sound that is Orton's folktronica tour-de-force.… Expand
  4. JonB
    Sep 12, 2007
    8
    this CD is a departure from her previous two. I probably would have rated it around a 3 or 4 when I first heard it. But I dusted it off this CD is a departure from her previous two. I probably would have rated it around a 3 or 4 when I first heard it. But I dusted it off recently and have come to enjoy it very much. I think the sound and mood of this CD is an acquired taste and may take repeated spins to fully appreciate it's moody quality.… Expand

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