Careworn and careful, yet also full of romance and vitality, Beth Orton has one of the most distinctive singing voices in all of British music, and as she prepares to release her new album The Ground Above, she’ll be answering your questions.
Born in Norfolk and brought up in east London, Orton made connections with rave royalty – Andrew Weatherall, the Chemical Brothers, William Orbit – and her platinum-selling debut album Trailer Park was never far from post-club gatherings in the wee hours, thanks to its blend of blissful acoustic pop and subtle electronic touches: Orton was duly nominated for two Brit awards and the Mercury prize. Follow-up Central Reservation leaned into a more full-bodied sound inflected with jazz and soul, and her third album, Daybreaker, took her into the UK Top 10.
Though she has never reached quite that level of commercial success again, her subsequent albums are superb, from the Jim O’Rourke-produced Comfort of Strangers to classic folk-rock on Sugaring Season, electronica on Kidsticks, and her remarkable, tortured 2022 album Weather Alive: a rumination on womanhood, nature and lasting love.
Follow-up The Ground Above is released on 26 June – the single Waiting, a jazz ballad, is up there with her best – and to mark it she’ll answer your questions about her life and work. Post them in the comments below by 12 May, and we’ll publish her answers in the 15 May edition of the Film & Music print section, as well as online.
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