Beth Orton: Comfort of Strangers

Herald rating: ****

Beth Orton dipped into the woe-is-me well on 2002's Daybreaker but has pulled herself out. This is her best work yet, topping even Trailer Park, her decade-old debut.

The London singer holed up in the studio for two weeks with Jim O'Rourke, the ex-Sonic Youth muso who revitalised Wilco on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and who does the same here. His organic production, defined by bassy drums, undulating guitars and the odd flicker of piano, has a rustic, folksy effect that gives greater intimacy to Orton's unusual vocal. You can hear it when her voice wavers on Feral Children and when the band lopes along lazily on Heartland Truckstop.

Orton responds well to the extra breathing space by giving these 14 memorable songs a more daring delivery. She accentuates her message on Rectify by switching time signatures, uses discord to satisfying effect in the chorus of Shadow of a Doubt, and on Conceived, the song with the most fulsome production, uses silence to dramatic effect.

Strangely enough, the title track is the weakest link, a throwback to her earlier style. And while she's still the mother of melancholy, she's learnt the merits of unleashing other emotions. "I know I'm gonna cry," she sings on Shopping Trolley, "but I'm gonna laugh about it all in time." That's the spirit.

Label: EMI