Gig played on 28/02/06

"We're gonna play pretty much new stuff tonight - hope you don't mind!" Four years on from her lacklustre third album, "Daybreaker", Beth Orton has re-emerged into the welcoming arms of her public re-invigorated and match fit. Short of bouncing onto the stage and shadow boxing for the second of her two-night stand at this ornate West London venue, the Beth Orton that stands before us is ready to take on all-comers.

It would be tempting to consider that the appearance of the likes of KT Tunstall on the scene has galvanised the Norfolk-born singer into action but regardless of the reasons for her creative re-birth, the news that most of this evening will be spent in the company of material from her splendid new album, "Comfort Of Strangers" is to be welcomed. So no, Beth; we don't mind. At all.

The scampering, almost jazzy, "Rectify" kicks things off before continuing with the lolloping acoustic grooves of "Conceived" and though Orton is commanding throughout both numbers, it's clear that not everything is as it should be. "What's that thing called when you've got a blocked nose?" she asks. A cold? "Yeah, that's it. Well, it's affected my hearing a bit." Ahhh…that would explain the fluffed intro to "Heart Of Soul", then.

No matter because this is the moment when Orton hits her stride and sets the pace for the rest of the evening. Purposeful and strident and with the full support of her devoted fanbase, it's impossible not to be moved when she demands, "I don't care how much religion you've got / You've gotta put a little bit of love in your heart" and in these troubled times the song takes on creepy relevance that's matched only by "Countenance" in which she sings of "…those who preach forgiveness while practising revenge."

Beth Orton the protest singer? Hey, no sniggering at the back, there - why the hell not? On days like these it'd be shameful for an artist of Orton's standing and musical orientation not to make a well-observed social comment. For sure, "Worms" is too lyrically oblique to work successfully in that particular context but it's still infinitely preferable to yet another bout of careerist navel-gazing.

Though dipping occasionally into her back catalogue - a solo rendition of "She Cries Your Name" recalls the halcyon days of the mid '90s - it's the new material that truly lingers. The fact that it comes this far into Orton's career is one kind of achievement; that it's of such a high standard is definitely another.

by James Marshall