Beth Orton: Promoting new album The Ground Above at Leeds Howard Assembly Room. Picture: Kasia Wozniak
WHAT were the chances? Beth Orton last played Leeds on October 16 2022 at the Brudenell Social Club on her Weather Alive tour. Now she will return on…October 16 2026, this time making her Howard Assembly Room debut at Leeds Grand Theatre as part of her eight-date British tour.
The Norfolk-born singer-songwriter will be showcasing The Ground Above, her ninth studio album (if you include 1993’s SuperPinky Mandy, produced by William Orbit and released only in Japan in a limited-edition print).
Self-produced by Orton, the June 26 album bridges the gap between folk, spiritual jazz and the Great American Songbook and is described by record label Partisan Records as her “most direct and unapologetic music to date; urgent, raw, embodied and emotionally fearless, moving between subconscious expression and expansive, timeless song craft.
The cover artwork for Beth Orton’s The Ground Above (Partisan Records)
“Her voice, as distinctive as ever, delivers melodies reminiscent of classic songbook form. Throughout the album, Orton documents survival and renewal, motherhood and identity, political unease and the ongoing choice to stay – in love, in art, and in the world.”
The slow-building, life-affirming first single, Waiting, with its shades of Laura Nyro, Carole King and early collaborator Terry Callier, is “a celebration of moving out of the holding pattern fear keeps us in,” says Orton, now 55.
“We are all vulnerable beings living out invincible lives,” reckons Orton, whose songs “look through a prism of many years at once” The track listing comprises The Ground Above, Before I Knew, Cigarette Curls, Waiting, Celestial Light, I’ll Miss You, Love You Right and Otherside, crafted in her London home studio, one that houses a battered old piano that she saved from Camden Market.
“We are all vulnerable beings living out invincible lives,” says Beth Orton. Picture: Kasia Wozniak
Through the years, BRIT Award winner Orton has accrued genre-defying collaborations with not only Callier and Orbit but also Chemical Brothers, Andy Weatherall, Red Snapper, Bert Jansch and Jim O’Rourke.
For The Ground Above, she began with live recordings, then sculpted and expanded the songs over a year-long process, working with multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, Vernon Spring’s Sam Beste, drummers Chris Vatalaro (Antibalas and Radiohead) and Vishal Nayak (Nick Hakim), trumpet player Christos Styliandes and The Invisible’s bassist, Tom Herbert.
Future Sounds presents Beth Orton, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand Theatre, October 16, doors 7pm for 7.45pm start. SOLD OUT. More details: https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/beth-orton-2/.
A scene from Frantic Assembly’s 21st century retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello, full of paranoia, sex and murder, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Tristram Kenton
REJOICE as doors to York’s grand designs ancient and modern are unlocked this weekend. Charles Hutchinson also checks out what’s on inside elsewhere.
Play of the week: Frantic Assembly in Othello, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2pm, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday
FRANTIC Assembly’s award-winning, electrifying reimagining of Othello locates Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder in a volatile 21st century as Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.
Shakespeare’s muscular yet beautiful text combines with the touring company’s own bruising physicality in a world of broken glass and broken promises, malicious manipulation and explosive violence, previously staged in 2008 and 2014 and now updated for 2022. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
“Rollercoaster romcom”: Olga Koch at Theatre@41
Comedy gig of the week: Olga Koch, Just Friends, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm
OLGA Koch, Russian-born, English-dwelling, story-telling stand-up and BBC Radio 4 show host, makes a return visit to Monkgate this weekend, following up last October’s Homecoming show.
Directed by Charlie Dinkin, this time she promises a “rollercoaster romcom you aren’t tall enough to ride”. “Strap in,” she advises. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Garforth House: One of 60 buildings opening up for York Unlocked this weekend
Tours of the week: York Unlocked, 60 locations, today and tomorrow
YORK joins the European Open Door cities and 60 Open House cities this weekend to showcase its urban landscape and buildings old and new. Among them will be Cumberland House (Kings Staith), Garforth House, York Guildhall, Bar Convent, Hiscox, Castlegate House, Duncombe Place Masonic Lodge, Hudson Quarter, Brew York (Walmgate), City Screen Picturehouse, Walmgate Bar, the Phoenix Inn and a plethora of churches.
“We aim to foster public appreciation of the architecture of York by organising the opening of 60 buildings and open spaces of merit for the public to explore for free,” say the organisers. “Our goal is to educate, engage and inspire.” For full details, head to: york-unlocked.org.uk/buildings-2022.
Will Clark: Violin soloist for York Guildhall Orchestra’s concert
Classical concert of the week: York Guildhall Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
THE first concert of York Guildhall Orchestra’s 42nd season also marks Simon Wright’s 30th anniversary as conductor. In a programme of popular music, local lad Will Clark is the violin soloist for Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, having earlier played with the orchestra as a youngster.
Old friends Leeds Festival Chorus join for Fauré’s Pavane and Lambert’s Rio Grande (piano soloist: Rebecca Taylor). Shostakovich’s Festive Overture will be the rousing opener; Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, the finale. In between come works by Porter, Wagner, Berlioz, Offenbach’s Can-Can; Handel, Tavener and Coleridge Taylor. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Beth Orton: Leeds Brudenell Social Club beckonsthis weekend
Gig of the week outside York: Beth Orton, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, tomorrow, doors, 7.30pm
BRIT Award winner Beth Orton concludes her autumn tour in Leeds, promoting her seventh studio album, released last month on her new label, Partisan Records.
Written on a battered old piano that singer-songwriter Orton saved from Camden Market, Weather Alive collates memories and experiences spanning a lifetime, her story-telling, sonically experimental songs addressing struggles and healing. Box office: for returns only, brudenellsocialclub.co.uk.
John Hewer as Harold, left, and Jeremy Smith as Albert in The Steptoe And Son Radio Show
Nostalgia of the week: The Steptoe And Son Radio Show, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm
ADAPTED for the stage by John Hewer, The Steptoe And Son Radio Show doffs its cap to the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of the classic BBC television comedy.
In a show based on the original TV scripts of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Jeremy Smith and Hewer play out the woes of warring Shepherd’s Bush rag-and-bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold in three episodes: Is That Your Horse Outside?, A Death In The Family and Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
The tour poster for The Proclaimers’ autumn travels
Tuneful twins of the week: The Proclaimers, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.30pm
SCATHING Scottish siblings Craig and Charlie Reid return to York on their 35-date autumn tour in support of their end-of-empire 12th studio album, Dentures Out, ahead of their 40th anniversary in 2023 (stage time, 830pm).
Fellow Scot David Tennant names The Proclaimers as “probably my favourite band of all time”. “They write the most spectacular songs, big-hearted, uncynical passionate songs,” says the ubiquitous actor. John Bramwell opens the gig; good news for I Am Kloot devotees after a family bereavement led to the cancellation of his September 24 concert at Ellerton Priory. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Marc Almond: Heading back to York Barbican
Leeds legend of the week in York: Marc Almond In Concert, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
SOFT Cell frontman Marc Almond plays York Barbican for the third time in five years after his Hits And Pieces tour date in April 2017 and guest spot at Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra’s November 2018 concert.
On his first solo tour in more than three years, Almond plays two sets, performing favourites from his extensive catalogue, his biggest hits and songs from his last album, January 2020’s Chaos And A Dancing Star, since when Soft Cell have released Happiness Not Included last year. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
BETH Orton will conclude her eight-date autumn tour at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on October 16, promoting her seventh studio album, Weather Alive.
Released on September 23, this eight-track set will be the Norfolk-born singer-songwriter’s debut for her new record label, Partisan Records, home to Fontaines D.C., Laura Marling, Idles and Fela Kuti.
The expansive, fractured title track is already out as a single, accompanied by a video directed by photographer/director Eliot Lee Hazel at Big Sur on the Californian coast.
Clocking in at just over seven minutes, Weather Alive is a dark, atmospheric reintroduction to BRIT Award winner Orton as she approaches the fourth decade of a career noted for genre-defying collaborations with Chemical Brothers, Andy Weatherall, Red Snapper, William Orbit, Bert Jansch, Terry Callier and Jim O’Rourke.
The artwork for Beth Orton’s Weather Alive
The new album, her first since 2016’s Kidsticks, finds Orton in front of the recording studio glass and behind it for the first time as both artiste and producer in her London home studio.
Weather Alive is not a wholly solo album, however. Orton left the studio door wedged open to welcome The Smile and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, Mancunian jazz saxophonist, poet and activist Alabaster dePlume, multi-instrumentalist/composer Shahzad Ismaily and The Invisible’s bassist, Tom Herbert.
Written on a battered old piano Orton saved from Camden Market, Weather Alive collates memories and experiences spanning a lifetime, her storytelling, sonically experimental songs addressing struggles and healing.
This summer, Orton, 51, has been supporting Alanis Morissette on her British and European tour, playing the Leeds AO Arena on June 24, ahead of a series of festival appearances at Latitude, Southwold, on July 23, Beautiful Days, Devon, on August 19 and Open House, Bangor, on August 21.
Tickets for Leeds Brudenell Social Club are on sale at bethortonofficial.com.
