Beth Orton The Ground Above
Consensus is still forming across 4 professional reviews. Beth Orton's The Ground Above charts a quiet, atmospheric journey from grief toward dawn, and critics generally agree the record rewards patient listening. Across four professional reviews the collection earned a 75/100 consensus score, with praise landing on songs that trade folktronica ornament for spare, soulful arr
The best song is “Waiting” due to its punchy Stax-like arrangement and emotive, foregrounded vocals.
Shared criticism is still limited across the current review sample.
Best for listeners looking for desert vs garden imagery and love and grief, starting with Celestial Light and Cigarette Curls.
Explore the full Chorus artist page, discography, and related genre paths.
See where this record sits inside the full critic-ranked discography.
Jump from this record into the broader critic-consensus lists for 2026.
Full consensus notes
Beth Orton's The Ground Above charts a quiet, atmospheric journey from grief toward dawn, and critics generally agree the record rewards patient listening. Across four professional reviews the collection earned a 75/100 consensus score, with praise landing on songs that trade folktronica ornament for spare, soulful arrangements and lived-in vocal intimacy. The title track, “The Ground Above”, repeatedly surfaces as a centerpiece, and “Cigarette Curls”, “Waiting” and “I’ll Miss You” are cited as standout songs that carry the album's emotional through-line.
Reviewers consistently note the album's recurring imagery - desert versus garden, morning and memory, and a movement from grief to acceptance - and they point to production choices that favor live, organic recording and ambient, otherworldly textures. Critics praised the Stax-like groove of “Waiting”, the free-form close of “Cigarette Curls”, and the title track's cascading trumpet and spectral vocal presence, all of which make the best songs on The Ground Above linger beyond a single play. At the same time some reviews flagged the record's dreamlike, disembodied mood as deliberately distancing, rewarding mood over immediate hooks.
Taken together the professional reviews frame The Ground Above as a resilient, elegiac, and often luminous entry in Orton's catalog - a record that probes loss, memory, maternal ecstasy and renewal through sparse instrumentation and intimate performances. For those asking whether The Ground Above is worth listening to, the critic consensus suggests a richly detailed, if occasionally austere, work whose best tracks - “The Ground Above”, “Cigarette Curls”, “Waiting” and “I’ll Miss You” - are essential to its affective payoff.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Celestial Light
1 mention
"Take "Celestial Light", Ben Sloan’s drums barely struck amid a silvery mist"— Uncut
Cigarette Curls
3 mentions
"the rootsy “Cigarette Curls” paints a portrait of a woman who remains vividly alive"— Slant Magazine
Waiting
3 mentions
"The soulful “Waiting” takes on the form and tenor of a traditional love song"— Slant Magazine
the opening title track to Orton’s ninth studio album, The Ground Above, feels like the 55-year-old is still walking through the wavy heat lines
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Ground Above
Before I Knew
Cigarette Curls
Waiting
Celestial Light
I'll Miss You
Love You Right
Otherside
Get the next albums worth your time.
Critic-backed picks in one clean digest. No clutter.
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Fa
Critic's Take
Beth Orton returns with an album that moves from arid reflection to blossoming pop, and the best songs on The Ground Above prove it. The reviewer privileges the punchy, soulful “Waiting” as the standout, praising its Stax-like groove and heart-on-sleeve vocals. Equally notable are the live-off-the-floor free-form close of “Cigarette Curls” and the big, confident sweep of album closer “Otherside”, which together map the record's shift from desert to garden. The best tracks on The Ground Above are therefore those that let Orton's vocal truth lead the arrangement, trading folktronica window-dressing for full-bodied soul.
Key Points
-
The best song is “Waiting” due to its punchy Stax-like arrangement and emotive, foregrounded vocals.
-
The album’s core strengths are live, organic arrangements and a thematic arc from desert desolation to renewed resilience.
Themes
Critic's Take
Beth Orton's The Ground Above is a contemplative record that moves from grief toward morning, and the best songs on The Ground Above make that arc quietly persuasive. The title track “The Ground Above” starts with cascading trumpet and tinkling piano, laying out the album's urgent opening, while the sparse, Eno-esque intro of “Before I Knew” and the rootsy portrait of memory in “Cigarette Curls” are among the album's most affecting moments. Orton's voice — creaky and lived-in here — makes tracks like “I’ll Miss You” and “Waiting” linger, turning small poetic details into emotional payoff. By the finale, “Love You Right” and “Otherside” bring a sanguine dawn that validates the record's slow, immersive mood.
Key Points
-
“Cigarette Curls” is best for its vivid, rootsy portrait and resonant imagery.
-
The album’s core strength is its immersive, atmospheric pacing that moves from grief to sanguine dawn.
Themes
Critic's Take
Beth Orton feels older, wiser and startlingly present on The Ground Above, and the best tracks on The Ground Above - the title cut and “Cigarette Curls” - showcase that mixture of frailty and triumph in spades. Wallace’s prose finds the opener so privately visceral that it trembles and breaks, yet becomes a candid assertion of triumph, while “Cigarette Curls” rides a soulful shuffle into a bewitching crescendo. He likewise singles out “Celestial Light” and “I’ll Miss You” for their tranquil, reverent handling of death and break-up, making them among the best songs on the record. The review reads as a ledger of survival: honest, unvarnished, and musically impeccable, and it steers listeners straight to these standout tracks.
Key Points
-
The title track is best for its visceral vocal performance and thematic centrality.
-
The album’s core strengths are emotional candour, nuanced production, and mature reflection.
Themes
Th
Critic's Take
Beth Orton drifts through The Ground Above with an ambient, otherworldly pulse that makes the title track and closing “Otherside” feel like bookends of a spectral suite. The reviewer hears the voice on “The Ground Above” as an unsettled spirit, “among the choirs of the gods”, ecstatic and lusty, which explains why “The Ground Above” emerges as one of the best tracks on the album. At the same time the closing “Otherside” seals the mood, leaving the listener in that disembodied, dreamlike space that defines the record. This is an album where atmosphere and vocal reverie make the best songs distinct, rather than brisk hooks or immediate pop payoff.
Key Points
-
The title track is the best because its vocal performance embodies the album’s unsettled, ecstatic spirit.
-
The album’s core strength is its sustained ambient, dreamlike atmosphere and vocal reverie.