Albums to watch

Sugaring Season

Beth Orton

Sugaring Season

Fifth studio album from BRIT award winning English singer-songwriter and folk musician, recorded in Portland, Oregon

ADM rating[?]

7.3

Label
ANTI-
UK Release date
01/10/2012
US Release date
02/10/2012
  1. 8.5 |   Paste Magazine

    A record that shows real artistic growth in every area and is destined to become a classic that rivals Trailer Park and Central Reservation
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  2. 8.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Orton’s voice is pure fragility yet as ripe as bruised windfall
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  3. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Orton remains a luminous presence among often monotone peers. Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   Q

    Ideal for listeners who think they're tired of folk music. Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Some beguiling songs, with not a dud among them. Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    This confident return should, by rights, secure for Orton all the respect Cat Power regularly laps up
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  7. 8.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    These rich, emotionally sophisticated songs (which will appeal to Cat Power fans) still have a strong rhythmic core
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  8. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Gone are the electronic grooves that used to underpin her folk music, replaced by predominantly acoustic guitars
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  9. 8.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    Acoustic guitars, piano, drums, strings and thick double bass configure texture
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  10. 8.0 |   The Independent

    Orton's magnolia-toned vocals have rarely been applied to more satisfying material
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  11. 8.0 |   Clash

    It’s charming in every way, but still rooted in the pop folk that brought Beth to us in the first place
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  12. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Thank God Beth Orton has that voice. Now more than ever, it’s the most pronounced separation between her and the less cool plethora of Radio 2-favoured female “folkies”
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  13. 8.0 |   DIY

    Written predominantly at night, this is a seductive if not immediately obvious piece of work, her adventures into folky-jazz work well, never straying too far from pleasing familiarity into all-out experimentalism
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  14. 8.0 |   All Music

    Its songs are informed by the struggles inherent in everyday life, but also account for dreams, small triumphs, and the redemptive power of love. It is a most welcome return from exile
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  15. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    One of the best folk-influenced albums of the year so far
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  16. 7.7 |   Pitchfork

    From end to end, it feels like the work of a singer-songwriter with a definitive stylistic expectation and a supporting cast that can supply it
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  17. 7.7 |   PlayGround

    Another perfect Sunday morning LP, both for when you're just waking up or when you haven't gone to sleep yet, bathing in the weak autumn light
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  18. 7.5 |   Tone Deaf

    Orton really plays to her strengths here, maintaining the style she’s always held, but showing a ineffaceable maturity
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  19. 7.2 |   The AU Review

    Beth Orton has done well to create an album this consistent but it still could have been a little more interesting
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  20. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The album slows to a crawl in its latter half, and that sense of lethargy ultimately detracts from the things Orton gets really right throughout
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  21. 7.0 |   Blurt

    The constant shifts in tone and temperament ultimately affirm Orton's unpredictable instincts, and give Sugaring Season a sweeter appeal
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  22. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    She’s soundtracking her/my/your/our comedown from youth itself. On Sugaring Season she captures both the melancholy and the confidence that comes with growing older really rather well
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  23. 7.0 |   BBC

    This delicacy was always the logical progression, and fans growing with Orton will find much to love about Sugaring Season
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  24. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    At its best, it sounds like the world's prettiest campfire music
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  25. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Orton's husky, intimate voice still speaks of secrets and the twilight hours
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  26. 6.0 |   The Observer

    Her wisp of a voice has found more weight and with it more feeling
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  27. 6.0 |   The Scotsman

    Peppered with curiosities such as the chanson-style waltz See Through Blue and the dramatic swell of Something More Beautiful, which help to give the collection colour and dynamism
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  28. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    She’s really starting to sound like she’s coming into her own, finally unburdened by the weight of trends and the expectations of what she and her music were supposed to be
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  29. 6.0 |   State

    It is still comforting to find that Orton is making exactly the kind of albums that she wants to make, and isn’t making any concession to a mainstream listenership
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  30. 5.8 |   A.V. Club

    Frustratingly uneven
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Beth Orton: Sugaring Season

  • Download full album for just £9.49
  • 1. Magpie £0.99
  • 2. Dawn Chorus £0.99
  • 3. Candles £0.99
  • 4. Something More Beautiful £0.99
  • 5. Call Me the Breeze £0.99
  • 6. Poison Tree £0.99
  • 7. See Through Blue £0.99
  • 8. Last Leaves of Autumn £0.99
  • 9. State of Grace £0.99
  • 10. Mystery £0.99
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