UK instores coming up in September pic.twitter.com/ztx5sAJy2F

— Beth Orton (@beth_orton) August 19, 2022

Along with the instore dates, the singer shared a video for her new single “Friday Night”.  The song is the third single off her new album and follows “Forever Young” and the eponymous track “Weather Alive”.

NME reported Orton’s feeling about her new release: “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.”

She continues: “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, Even in absence there is presence, there is no escape but to look for where the love is still alive within us.” You can watch the video below.

Her upcoming album features The Smile’s drummer Tom Skinner, Mancunian jazz star Alabaster dePlume, multi-instrumentalist/composed Shahzad Ismaily, and The Invisible’s bassist Tom Herbert. In a statement released to NME, the new record is described as “a record that collates memories and experiences spanning a lifetime, with stories that touch on struggles, on healing and of beauty.”

Orton became popular for her “folktronica” sound, which combines folk and electronica elements.  In the middle of the 1990s, she first gained attention for her work with the Chemical Brothers, Red Snapper, Andrew Weatherall, William Orbit, and others. Her 1996 debut solo album, Trailer Park, was well-received by critics in the UK and US. Weather Alive is her eighth studio album.

Along with her in-store performances, Orton will be on a headline tour of the UK through 2022. Dates are below and tickets can be purchased here.

In-store appearances:
23/09/2022 – Rough Trade East – London
25/09 – Bear Tree – Sheffield
26/09 – Assai Records – Edinburgh
28/09 – HMV – Nottingham
29/09 – Truck Store – Oxford
Headline dates:
07/10 – Academy 2 – Birmingham
08/10 – St. Bartholomew’s Church – Brighton
09/10 – KOKO – London
10/10 – Arts Centre – Norwich
12/10 – St George’s –Bristol
13/10 – Classic Grand – Glasgow
15/10 – RCMN Concert Hall – Manchester
16/10 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds

We’re happy to announce that Good Night SONGS for Rebel Girls, a new album inspired by the book series – Good Night Stories is out now. This beautiful album includes Skye’s acoustic version of ‘The Only Way Is Up’. Stream. Listen. Buy – https://t.co/shnN1VLXhs pic.twitter.com/QzXoWpYvKJ

— Morcheeba (@MorcheebaBand) November 27, 2020

The British artists featuring on the new record include Pontypridd singer-songwriter Amy Wadge, covering Elton John’s seminal Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Scottish folk-rocker KT Tunstall, who covers The Pretenders’ 1986 single Hymn To Her; Norfolk-born Brit Award winner Beth Orton, who adds her own spin to Antony and The Johnsons’ For Today I Am A Boy; and Morcheeba vocalist Skye Edwards (aka SKYE), who delivers an acoustic version of Yazz’s feelgood classic The Only Way Is Up.

Speaking about her involvement on the album, Edwards told The Shortlisted: “I’m a mother of four – two are daughters – and I love the positive inspirational message of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, so I was of course very excited to be part of the ‘Good Night Songs for Rebel Girls’. When it came to choosing which song to cover, I thought about the first record I bought on vinyl in the 80s, ‘The Only Way Is Up’, by Yazz. It has been my 12-year-old son’s primary school music teacher that suggested recording it acoustically. He’s starting a blog for his pupils called Mr Scullin’s Music Room and was interviewing my husband and I about Morcheeba and life as a musician. We got talking about Rebel Girls and that’s how it came about. He ended up playing the guitar on the track!”

Elsewhere there are appearances on the album from British-Indian sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar; Sussex singer-songwriter Marie White, the winner of the Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent competition in 2019; and Cumbrian saxophonist Jess Gilliam, who presents a reimagining of the Carole King masterpiece You’ve Got A Friend.

The LP has a distinctly international flavour, with further contributions from Ireland’s Imelda May; Norway’s Aurora; Italian singer and model Elodie; Belgian instrumentalist Lubiana; South Korean singer Somin; and Lyon multi-instrumentalist Pomme. The record also features tracks from two bona fide American legends, with intriguing cameos from punk rock godmother Joan Jett (performing her own track Fresh Start) and soul-pop songstress Anastacia, who brings her own brand of gusto to Kelly Clarkson’s 2012 mega-hit Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).

The full track listing for Goodnight Songs For Rebel Girls is as follows:

1 Beloved – Imelda May
2 Girl on Fire – Lubiana
3 The Only Way is Up – SKYE
4 Thank You – Aurora
5 Stronger – Anastacia
6 Fresh Start – Joan Jett
7 Brass in Pocket – Ani DiFranco
8 Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Tank and the Bangas
9 Hymn to Her – KT Tunstall
10 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Amy Wadge
11 Issues – Marie White
12 For Today I am a Boy – Beth Orton
13 You’ve Got a Friend – Jess Gillam
14 Joga – Anoushka Shankar
15 Beautiful – Somin
16 Va Tu Sei Libero (You Don’t Own Me) – Elodie
17 The Park – Pomme