Q: That was Concrete Sky. It's the first single from Beth Orton's brand new CD, "Daybreaker." I'm Jody Denberg and me and Beth are here in New York City, the Big Apple. A good place to talk about a Concrete Sky. At one point in the song, you say, "It's not coming around too soon." And then later on, you say, "It's harder than a heartbreak, too." So is a concrete sky, is it a good thing or a bad thing?

A: Well, I think a concrete sky is like a state of mind, really. I don't know, I suppose, you see, I could get literal. But when I wrote it, it wasn't literal. And I think it's only this sort of year that I've realized what it was about. Is a concrete sky is just a state of mind, really, when, you know, you've put expectation on stuff or past experience. And I suppose something I've learned in the last couple of years is actually, sometimes it's harder to be -- it's harder to be in a really truly loving relationship and sustain it, than it is to be constantly getting your heart broken. You know, and we kind of take what we learn and we imprint it on where we are now. And it's like, well -- and that, to me, is a concrete sky. It's like making everything solid, very literal...

Q: As a matter of fact, the sky turns up in so many songs in "Daybreaker." Is that an obsession of yours, the sky?

A: Yeah, and the sea.

Q: How come?

A: I don't know. I just love looking at the sky. I just always wonder what's up there. What the hell is going on (laughs).

Q: Another thing about "Daybreaker" is that it's a collaboration with a lot of different talented people. Concrete Sky, the song we just heard was co-written with former Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr. And Ryan Adams was singing along with you. When and how did you meet these guys?

A: I met Johnny Marr -- I'd just come off stage in LA and he was talking to a friend of mine. And I was just chatting to the two of them. I didn't know who this other guy was. And I was just -- we were talking for like a half an hour, getting on really well, having a laugh. And then I was just like, "So what do you do?" And he was like, "Oh, I play guitar." And I said, "Oh, is that right? Anyone I've heard of?" And he was like, "Well, maybe, yeah. The Smiths?" I was like, "Oh, no, you're Johnny Marr." I was like, "Okay. Okay." And then I sort of expected that embarrassment to set in and just -- but it didn't, because he's just such a sweetheart. And we just carried on. It was like blip and then we went, oh, whatever, and just carried on talking. And then it turned out we were staying in the same hotel. And he came up one evening and we just sat on my balcony drinking wine and playing guitar until like the wee hours. And it was just beautiful. It was like -- it was amazing. And I had these songs. It was like, "Oh, I've got this song." And I had Concrete Sky. I've had that knocking that for a while. And he just got very excited about that song in particular and started adding these chords underneath. And then sort of, "Oh, I know what, what about this idea for a bridge?" And then added another little bit. And then helped me with my chorus. Just kind of like galvanized it and, I don't know, made it into what it is, really.

Performing in KGSR's Music Lounge 8/12/02

Q: What about Ryan?

A: Eventually, by the time I got around to actually making the record and wasn't demo-ing anymore, Johnny was off touring with Neil Finn. And I needed someone to do it. And I had heard "Heartbreaker" when it came out and adored it. And my A&R man also adores it. And we were like talking and it was, "Well, what about Ryan Adams?" And so they got in contact with him. And he came over last spring and I met him. And immediately, we were like, "Yeah, whatever" "You are…" We kind of hit it off. And then he came back in September and we went in the studio and I just expected for it to be like a couple of hours and do that. And he put the vocal down and then said, "I've got a guitar idea. I've got a piano idea" and put that down, too, and …

Q: The next song we're going to hear from "Daybreaker" is called Paris Train. And you co-wrote that with your guitarist, Ted Barnes. You've pretty much had the same band from the first record, "Trailer Park," through "Central Reservation" and now on "Daybreaker." Are you a loyal person or have these guys really jelled as a band for you?

A: For me, working with Ted Barnes, my guitarist, is a joy, he's just a very talented musician. But he's also a really lovely person. I find, I make the best music in stress-free situations. And when I'm in my band, it's like being with family. It's like being with my seven brothers, you know. They are like brothers now, we've known each other for so long. And the loyalty goes both ways, really. And I just really appreciate them as musicians. They're from very different worlds originally, musically. And to bring them together in one band is just fascinating.

Q: I think we should get aboard the Paris Train. Do you want to go?

A: I think so.

Song: Paris Train

Q: What a ride. Paris Train is the song that begins Beth Orton's third and newest album, "Daybreaker." Was there really a train ride in Paris that spurred this song to life?

A: It was a friend of mine who was traveling from London to Norway. And he'd go a very strange route. He'd go all -- he loved trains. And he'd take this train. And he was really pissing me off at the time and he was doing that thing. So I put the phone down and I started, (angrily) "Now you're sitting on a Paris train, laughing at your own jokes again." And is sort of just turned into this kind of apocalyptic fantasy of mine that just like the end of the world is coming kind of vibe. And then it became about something else. It was a very intense feeling when I started that song. And I think that's been captured, definitely.

Q: The strings open it up. It's like a whole other world. The strings are really prominent on a lot of "Daybreaker." Was it a real string section or did you use a keyboard and samples and who arranged the strings?

A: I only ever use real strings. Oliver Kraus and Becky Doe, they arranged the strings on the "Trailer Park," "Central Reservation" and on this record. And there's another guy, Adam Peters, who arranged strings on a couple of other songs, but on this one it was Ollie Crouse and Becky Doe again.

Q: It's hard for me to imagine that Paris Train started as an aggressive song, because it's so dreamy and introspective. And a lot of your work is. So when people meet you, do they expect they're going to meet someone in a sundress holding a book or something? I mean, because you're a pretty outgoing --

A: I am. I mean, I don't know. Everyone I know is just so multidimensional. I don't know anyone who's just like one thing or the other, and…I'm just a human being. As light as I am, I'm as dark. And maybe I'm a little lighter and maybe I'm a little darker. Maybe I'm a manic, you know, a manic person. I don't think so, but I don't know. It's hard to say, isn't it? I think when you're old, you look back and you know what you, are, were. But I'm also the sort of person who's very open to change and movement. And I'm very -- what would you say, kind of inquisitive. It's like, it doesn't matter what my childhood was. It doesn't matter what my likes and dislikes are. All that really matters is people hear the music and they respond to that. The rest is just sort of, I might as well make it up, really. I don't know.

Q: Well, let's get back to the music, then. Because "Daybreaker" has such a great sense of immediacy. Did this record kind of flow out of you or was it a difficult record for you?

A: It wasn't a difficult record. It was difficult, though, at times, but it always knew where it was going, kind of - mmm, yeah, it was a good record to make. It was a very positive record to make.

Q: I want to play a song right now called Anywhere from the album. I don't know, I hear a little like a Burt Bacharach vibe or something similar. Were you in that kind of musical place when you wrote it?

A: I had a song and we did a version of it. And then we also were doing this jam around a Shuggie Otis song called Out of My Head, which then sort of turned into Why Can't We Live Together. What's that song (sings it)? So anyway, we were just jamming around that. And we recorded these two songs. And Ben Watt, who was mixing, just wasn't into them. And I was just going, hmm. I didn't like either of them particularly myself. And I just thought, what if I sing my song Anywhere over this kind of more sort of -- I don't know, like you say, Bacharach-y kind of vibe. And everyone was like, "You're off your head." And I was like, "No, it might work." And then Ben went in and he did a bit of cutting up and fiddling around. And it really worked. It was like, yeah, I like it a lot. I like how it came together, as well.

Song: Anywhere

Q: Anywhere, from Beth Orton's new album, "Daybreaker." Beth, it's a slippery record, "Daybreaker," because every time I listen to it, I hear something different. You mentioned Ben Watt, who mixed it with Andy Bradfield. And Victor Van Vugt. Victor's been with you since the first record. Tell me about the input that these guys had into shaping the record.

A: Victor's input is -- he's just really good at recording the band. And the band really love him and everyone's very relaxed with one another. And he's great fun to be around. And he records things beautifully. And that is just a blessing, you know, to work with someone like that. Then, when Ben Watt got involved, I suppose it just pushed it up a notch. And I describe it as taking it into technicolor. It's like he - he also accentuated what was there and really seemed to understand the lushness. My brief to him was, "I just want beautiful, classy, lush mixes. I don't want dance beats and this, that and the other. I don't want gimmicks. I just want beautiful, beautiful music."

Q: Are you able to listen back to "Daybreaker" objectively yet and…?

A: No, not yet. Like, maybe not today, but the last few days, I don't even know if I like it anymore. But that's what happens, you know. And then that will pass. I know…yeah, it's a funny one, that. It's like you make something, it's everything and then suddenly, I can't even remember if I was -- I don't even remember -- I mean, it's just the strangest thing. So, not yet.

Q: We talked a little bit earlier about the dreamy nature of "Daybreaker". And indulge me, because I don't really know much about your childhood. And if you want to make this part up, you can. But was there stuff growing up that made you kind of a person that wanted to escape and watch the wheels and be dreamy?

A: Yeah, I liked to fantasize and dream. And I still do. I mean, I have to watch myself. I do live in a dream world.

Q: And growing up contributed to that?

A: Well, yeah. I just used to make it up in my head all the time. I'd just be forever drifting off. Never concentrating at school. My mum used to commute a lot between London and Norfolk, where I was born. And she used to love taking me driving. She used to drive all the time. And we'd go up to Scotland or Wales or Lake District. She loved taking off for the weekend. And I was her little compadre. And I just used to lie in the back of the car listening to -- I actually had one tape and it was the soundtrack to American Graffiti (laughs). And I used to listen to it over and over and over again.

And I could play on my own. I just always had a roomful of people, as far as I was concerned. And I thought everything would be alive. Like, I could make anything alive. I talked to things. I talked to inanimate objections a lot and shit like that.