Largely shorn of the energy and ebullience of the preceding Central Reservation, Beth Orton's third LP cuts a far more somber figure -- Daybreaker sacrifices immediacy for uniformity of mood and emotional tenor, and although it's perhaps her most consistent and mature work to date, it's also her least engaging, never matching the dizzying heights of her previous efforts even as it consciously avoids past pitfalls.
The attention to detail and nuance that colors these ten songs is undeniably impressive, but in forgoing the electronic elements of before in favor of more organic adornments like strings and guitar drones, Orton's lost some of her originality and unpredictability -- she's very much a traditional singer/songwriter now, and though much of Daybreaker is jaw-droppingly beautiful and brutally poignant, somehow the word "traditional" seems all wrong for any qualified assessment of Orton's music.
To its credit, the record's subtleties blossom over repeated listens, and moments like "Thinking About Tomorrow" and the haunting "God's Song" rank with Orton's best, but the album as a whole is so relentlessly dour and down-tempo that it never quite takes flight -- which may well be the point, but it's not a point well-taken.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris TrainTed Barnes, Beth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Concrete SkyJohnny Marr, Beth Orton | Beth Orton, Ryan Adams | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Mount WashingtonBeth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 06:27 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | AnywhereBeth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | DaybreakerBeth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | CarmellaBeth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | God SongBeth Orton | Beth Orton, Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | This One's Gonna BruiseRyan Adams, Beth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Ted's WaltzTed Barnes, Beth Orton | Beth Orton | Play | 05:41 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Thinking About TomorrowTed Barnes, Beth Orton, Sean Read, Sebastian Steinberg | Beth Orton | Play | 06:40 | 15 MB | 0 MB |
| 51 mins | 117 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Adams | Bass, Composer, Foot Stomping, Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Piano, Primary Artist, Slide Guitar, Vocals |
| 2 | Ted Barnes | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin |
| 3 | Jon Birdsong | Brass Arrangement, Trumpet |
| 4 | Will Blanchard | Drums |
| 5 | Catherine Browning | Violin |
| 6 | Vincent Chancey | French Horn |
| 7 | The Chemical Brothers | Guest Artist, Performer |
| 8 | Jake Davies | Engineer |
| 9 | Calina de la Mare | Violin |
| 10 | Beki Doe | String Arrangements, Violin |
| 11 | Ali Friend | Guitar (Bass) |
| 12 | Richard George | Violin |
| 13 | Lascelles Gordon | Percussion |
| 14 | Howard Gott | Violin |
| 15 | Ruth Gottlieb | Violin |
| 16 | Emmylou Harris | Guest Artist, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 17 | Marcus Werner Hed | Design |
| 18 | Smokey Hormel | Guitar (Electric) |
| 19 | Matt Johnson | Drums |
| 20 | Paul "PK" Kelly | Layout Design |
| 21 | Jim Keltner | Drums |
| 22 | Oliver Kraus | Cello, String Arrangements |
| 23 | Richard "Dread" Mann | Engineer |
| 24 | Johnny Marr | Composer, Guitar |
| 25 | John McCormack | Assistant Engineer |
| 26 | Scott Minor | Percussion, Programming |
| 27 | Tim Myall | Violin |
| 28 | Andy Nice | Cello |
| 29 | Jacqueline Norrie | Violin |
| 30 | William Orbit | Mixing, Vocal Producer |
| 31 | Beth Orton | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Primary Artist, Producer, Rhythm King, Vocals |
| 32 | Adam Peters | Cello, Keyboards, String Arrangements, String Conductor |
| 33 | Valerie Phillips | Photography |
| 34 | Sean Read | Composer, Keyboards |
| 35 | Iain Roberton | Digital Editing |
| 36 | Sophie Sarota | Viola |
| 37 | Peter Saville | Creative Director |
| 38 | Lucy Shaw | Double Bass |
| 39 | Miles Showell | Mastering |
| 40 | Rob Spriggs | Viola |
| 41 | Sebastian Steinberg | Composer, Guitar (Bass) |
| 42 | Keith Tenniswood | Programming |
| 43 | Victor Van Vugt | Producer, Programming |
| 44 | Becca Ware | Viola |
| 45 | Andy Waterworth | Double Bass |
| 46 | Ben Watt | Guest Artist, Piano, Producer, Vocal Producer |
| 47 | Dave Williams | Violin |
| 48 | Sara Wilson | Cello |
| 49 | Brian G. Wright | Violin |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |