Details

BRIT Award and Mercury Prize winning singer Beth Orton performs acclaimed album Weather Alive in her first Australian tour in six years.

Many musicians turn inward when the world around them seems chaotic and unreliable. Reframing one’s perception of self can often reveal new personal truths both uncomfortable and profound, and for Beth Orton, music re-emerged as a tethering force even when her own life felt more tumultuous than ever. After struggling with incorrectly diagnosed health issues for years, Orton turned a major corner in 2014 when she was finally able to begin managing her condition after the correct diagnosis. However, realising this newfound clarity could be as disempowering as the previously unanswered questions about her well-being, because it waylaid her sense of self. Laying the foundations of the songs on an upright piano from her home studio in London, these experiences turned into the eight-track Weather Alive, the first album she’s ever self-produced in her nearly 30-year career.

One of the most critically acclaimed records released in 2022, Orton will be performing her first Australian shows in six years with her full band. Known for her mesmerising onstage presence and powerfully emotive vocals, Orton recently performed at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival and Primavera Sound Barcelona, wrapping up an EU/UK tour including shows with The War On Drugs.

With the first notes of the album-opening title track ushering listeners into an expansive and dream-like world of sound, witness what critics have lauded as a ‘a slow-burning tour de force’ (Pitchfork), and Orton’s ‘modal vocal phrases and marveling’ stories (The New York Times). Performing classic hits such as ‘She Cries Your Name’ and ‘Central Reservation,’ Orton’s sound has shapeshifted from her output with The Chemical Brothers, Andrew Weatherall, and William Orbit, to a pioneer of an electronic, woozy brand of trip- hop. Through all these different sonic explorations, Orton remains a fantastically evocative songwriter, finding artist fans and collaborators in the most unlikely of places. For all the acclaim that fall Orton’s way, she continues to take the path less travelled in forging her next move.

‘Through the writing of these songs and the making of this music, I found my way back to the world around me – a way to reach nature and the people I love and care about. This record is a sensory exploration that allowed for a connection to a consciousness that I was searching for. Through the resonance of sound and a beaten-up old piano I bought in Camden Market while living in a city I had no intention of staying in, I found acceptance and a way of healing.’ – Beth Orton

With Special Guest

Beth Orton will be supported by BATTS.

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SET TIMES

7.30pm – 8pm: BATTS
8pm – 8.30pm: Interval
8.30pm – 10pm: Beth Orton

Series

This production is part of the following series: