The only unnecessary addition was the Latin house remix of “Central Reservation” tacked on for the fans who must have everything. The “Sessions at West 54th” material is nice to have, especially to hear how she adapted many of these songs for acoustic guitars, even if the recording quality feels a little tinny in comparison to the rest of the LP. It's a risky move creatively as well as commercially - after all, the club culture was the first to champion Orton's talents - but it pays off handsomely for all its brilliance, elements of Trailer Park already feel dated, but the new material possesses a timelessness that recalls the best of Nick Drake or Sandy Denny, with a haunting beauty to match. With the exception of a pair of Ben Watt-produced tracks ('Stars All Seem to Weep' and a remix of the title cut), Central Reservation rejects synthetic sounds and beats altogether in favor of an organic atmosphere somewhere between folk, jazz, and the blues the focal point is instead Orton's evocatively soulful voice, which invests songs like 'Sweetest Decline' and 'Feel to Believe' with remarkable warmth and honesty. On her stunning sophomore album, Central Reservation, Beth Orton slips free of the electronic textures that colored her acclaimed 1996 debut, Trailer Park, stripping her music down to its raw essentials to produce a work of stark simplicity and rare poignancy.
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