Beth Orton - Central Reservation

By 1999 Beth Orton had spent three years being described as "the folktronica one," a tag earned by singing over Chemical Brothers tracks and one that badly undersold what she actually did. Central Reservation is the record that ended the argument. It won her the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist in 2000, picked up a second Mercury Prize nomination, and made clear that the electronics were a texture, not the reason to listen.

"Stolen Car" opens the album on Ben Harper's electric guitar and what remains one of the finest vocal performances of the decade, all held-back phrasing and unresolved hurt. "Sweetest Decline" puts Dr. John at the piano. "Pass In Time" brings in Terry Callier for seven minutes that drift somewhere close to gospel, two singers circling the same grief from different generations. Ben Watt produced several tracks, and his beats on "Stars All Seem To Weep" and the closing remix of the title track keep one foot on the dancefloor without ever letting the record become one.

It reached number 17 in the UK and has aged better than almost anything else from that late-nineties crossover moment, largely because Orton was writing songs that would work with nothing but a guitar behind them. The production dates gracefully. The writing does not date at all.

This double LP reissue spreads the album across four sides, pressed at MPO. On Sony Music.