The almost nauseatingly laudatory press release accompanying Beth Orton’s fourth full-length, Comfort of Strangers, posits a theory I hadn’t considered in some time: some artists create their masterpieces on the first try and other artists take time, grow and fashion their most memorable works much further along. It’s a theory that certainly holds true when considering the sterling singer-songwriter efforts already given us by 2006: Cat Power’s undeniable The Greatest, Liz Durrett’s The Mezzanine, and now, Orton’s latest long-player, coming nearly a decade after her superb debut Trailer Park. Comfort of Strangers finds the incisive Orton, a literary songstress whose works are folk flecked with trace elements of trip-hop, paired with producer Jim O’Rourke to great effect. The pair pounded out Comfort of Strangers in two weeks at New York’s Sear Sound studio, with help with M. Ward, Tim Barnes, and Rob Burger; eschewing multiple takes, digital recording techniques, and working toward an “in-the-moment” vibe, Orton and her producer wrought 14 playful and poignant vignettes, charged with emotion and stripped of gloss. The sentimental, pained title track is an exquisite sketch of a wounded heart while “Shadow of a Doubt” haunts with its stark simplicity. Orton’s assured hand throughout marks Comfort of Strangers as a sturdy piece of songwriting that will stand among the more memorable albums of 2006 come year’s end.
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