Beth Orton has shared a video for her latest single ‘Friday Night’, as well as a string of newly-announced live in-store appearances.
The track is the third to be lifted from her new album, ‘Weather Alive’ – following ‘Forever Young’ and the album’s title track – which is released on September 23 via Partisan Records. You can pre-order it here.
Speaking about the new single, Orton said: “Friday Night is someone reflecting on, and trying to decide, what to give up or what to surrender to. Passion or ambivalence? Whether to ‘bleed or rust in the rain’.
“Most of us are struggling to make sense of where to put the love we have for those that are lost to us, let alone the ones that remain. Sometimes there is no right answer except to find the wisdom in the spaces between the endings and beginnings, in the remembrance of things past or in search of lost time, there are always re-percussions to the choices we make.
“We are listening to the internal dialogue of someone living it out, what is futile and what is worth fighting for, and trying to do as little damage along the way. Friday night being the night that makes the week more bearable, there is hope.”
“Coming to realise what is real and what is out of reach can be unbelievably painful, waking up to the love that remains can be the greatest gift and the most wonderful surprise,” the statement concludes. “Even in absence there is presence, there is no escape but to look for where the love is still alive within us.”
Watch the video for ‘Friday Night’, self-directed and filmed in Hydra, Greece, below.
A statement about the new album describes it as “a record that collates memories and experiences spanning a lifetime, with stories that touch on struggles, on healing and of beauty.”
Collaborators on the album include The Smile’s drummer Tom Skinner, Mancunian jazz star Alabaster dePlume, multi-instrumentalist/composed Shahzad Ismaily, and The Invisible’s bassist Tom Herbert.
As well as her headline tour, Orton will now perform at a number of record stores across England and Scotland. Tickets can be found here – check out her full 2022 UK tour schedule, including the new September dates, below.
AUGUST
19 – Beautiful Days Festival, Devon
21 – Open House Festival, Bangor
SEPTEMBER (in-store appearances)
23 – Rough Trade East, London
25 – Bear Tree, Sheffield
26 – Assai Records, Edinburgh
28 – HMV, Nottingham
29 – Truck Store, Oxford
OCTOBER
07 – Academy 2, Birmingham
08 – St. Bartholomew’s Church, Brighton
09 – KOKO, London
10 – Arts Centre, Norwich
12 – St George’s, Bristol
13 – Classic Grand, Glasgow
15 – RCMN Concert Hall, Manchester
16 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds