For more than 30 years, Beth Orton has been our antenna to the cosmos, the poet laureate of forces too vast to take in all at once. Her records arrive patiently, unified by emotional focus rather than any single musical style. From the pioneering folktronica of 1996’s Trailer Park to the earthy classic-rock miniatures of 2006’s Comfort of Strangers through 2022’s self-produced Weather Alive, she has built a catalogue that exists proudly out of time, each album its own planet in an ever-expanding solar system.

If Weather Alive lived underwater, spectral and dreamlike, The Ground Above marks a resurfacing. It is her most direct and unapologetic music to date; profoundly urgent, embodied, and powered by a hard-won strength. Where the previous record unfolded in a suspended dreamscape, The Ground Above finds Orton firmly back on land, taking a giant intake of air. It documents survival, integration and renewal without denial, acceptance without resignation.

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