Daybreaker (Beth Orton album)

Daybreaker
Studio album by Beth Orton
Released	16 July 2002
Studio	Ridge Farm Studio · Surrey · Eastcote Studios
Genre	Folktronica downtempo trip hop
Length	51:28
Label	Heavenly (UK) - HVNLP 37 Astralwerks (U.S.)
Producer	Beth Orton, Victor Van Vugt, Ben Watt
Beth Orton chronology
Central Reservation (1999) Daybreaker (2002) The Other Side of Daybreak (2003)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
E! Online	B+[1]
Mojo	[3]
NME	(8/10)[4]
Pitchfork Media	(4.8/10)[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Slant Magazine	[7]
Spin	[8]
Stylus Magazine	[1]
Uncut	[9]
Village Voice	(mixed)[10]

Daybreaker is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Beth Orton released in 2002 on Heavenly Records and the Astralwerks Records label. The album reached #40 in US and #8 in UK. Mojo Magazine called the album "her best to date...".^[11] Q Magazine was not excited about the album: "Tortoise-pace strumming and a crippling shortage of choruses produce only torpor".^[12][13] The album earned Orton a nomination at the BRIT Awards for Best British Female Singer as well as Best Album at the Q Awards.

In an interview to Insound.com on 28 July 2002 she said about making the record:

"We recorded 25 songs in two weeks with the whole band. Then there's the stuff I did with Johnny. There's stuff all over the place. And these are the ten songs that ended up being on the record because for me they encapsulate the mood best of the time we are recording the album. It took about six months altogether. That's not too bad. It was probably actually a year because I was looking for someone to do the mixing and things weren't working out."^{[citation needed]}

As of 2003 it has sold 169,000 copies in the United States.^[14]

Track listing

1. "Paris Train" (Ted Barnes, Orton)
2. "Concrete Sky" (Johnny Marr, Orton)
3. "Mount Washington" (Orton)
4. "Anywhere" (Orton)
5. "Daybreaker" (Orton)
6. "Carmella" (Orton)
7. "God Song" (Orton)
8. "This One's Gonna Bruise" (Ryan Adams, Orton)
9. "Ted's Waltz" (Barnes, Orton)
10. "Thinking About Tomorrow" (Ted Barnes, Orton, Sean Read, Sebastian Steinberg)

The Japanese version features two bonus tracks: "Ali's Waltz" and "Bobby Gentry", both also on the Concrete Sky EP.^[15]

Personnel

• Producer - Victor Van Vugt
• Additional production - Ben Watt
• Acoustic Guitar - Ted Barnes
• Drums - Will Blanchard
• Engineer - Richard "Dread" Mann
• Assistant Engineer - John McCormack
• Bass Guitar - Ali Friend
• Keyboards - Sean Read
• Mastered By - Miles Showell
• Mixer - Andy Bradfield, Ben Watt
• Ryan Adams - acoustic guitar on 'This One's Gonna Bruise', bass and slide guitar on 'God Song', piano, bass, guitars and backing vocals on 'Carmella' and 'Concrete Sky'

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Daybreaker

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16]	14
French Albums (SNEP)[17]	119
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18]	29
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19]	25
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20]	17
UK Albums (OCC)[21]	8
US Billboard 200[22]	40

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Daybreaker

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[23]	165

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[24]	Silver	60,000^^
United States	—	169,000[25]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Daybreaker by Beth Orton". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
2. Daybreaker at AllMusic
3. "Daybreaker". Mojo: 102. 1 September 2002.
4. "Daybreaker". NME: 33. 27 July 2002.
5. "Pitchfork Media review". Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
6. "Daybreaker". Rolling Stone. 25 July 2002. p. 72.
7. "Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
8. "Daybreaker". Spin: 128. 1 September 2002.
9. "Daybreaker". Uncut: 108. 1 September 2002.
10. Pearse, Emma (3 September 2002). "A Bit of a Dag". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
11. Mojo Magazine, 8/02, p.102
12. Q Magazine, Aug 2002, p.131
13. Album reviews at cduniverse.com
14. "Orton Seeking 'Comfort' with New Album". Billboard. 3 November 2005.
15. "beth-lehem.com". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
16. "Australiancharts.com – Beth Orton – Daybreaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
17. "Lescharts.com – Beth Orton – Daybreaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
18. "Charts.nz – Beth Orton – Daybreaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
19. "Norwegiancharts.com – Beth Orton – Daybreaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
20. "Swedishcharts.com – Beth Orton – Daybreaker". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
22. "Beth Orton Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
23. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on 2 September 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
24. "British album certifications – Beth Orton – Daykreaker". British Phonographic Industry.
25. "Orton Seeking 'Comfort' With New Album". Billboard. 3 November 2005. Retrieved 24 April 2019.