LONG before Beth Orton was known for producing songs of a delicate country-tinged acoustica, she was exploring the boundaries of electronica.

She synthesised both electronic beats and acoustic songwriting, and this is something she now returns to with her new album Kidsticks.

In the four year gap between Kidsticks and her previous record Sugaring Season, Beth moved to America, now living in Los Angeles, where she teamed up with Andrew Hung from electronic duo F*** Buttons.

Going back to your roots it often associated as a cliche, but for Orton it is something which came naturally.

“It was not something which I went looking for consciously,” says Orton. “But I think it was the nature of moving countries and also getting together with Andy which sparked the change.

“After the initial sessions that is just when it came to life, there were just so many things which became different.

“I played the keyboards and did not touch the acoustic guitar, but I did not consciously do that either, it just kept evolving in that direction.” 

The pair experimented with electronic loops, inspired by her new surroundings in the wide open spaces of LA.

Her earliest recordings back in the nineties were experimentations with producers like William Orbit and Andrew Weatherall, and it is that style with a new spin, ditching the acoustic, which she is striving to achieve. 

“It was liberating and freeing and to be able to do something different,” says Orton. “Also for me I did not know how it would affect my voice and how it would affect how I wrote.

“I was able to broaden that section of my voice which was exciting, each step kind of propelled me into the next.

“Even around the time of Daybreaker back in 2002 I was very interested in exploring the electronic things, but then I got caught up in the idea of learning my craft, learning from the people around me, I went off and worked on tangents and worked with different people.

“I followed various obsessions on the way, suddenly I would get really into something and be like ‘right, that is something I need to do’.”

But also Orton says “life got in the way, in a good way,” having two children and getting married, which sent her music in its own direction has a career took various twists and turns. 

“It is just this long journey of discovery,” says Orton. “I think it was really important for me to hone at my craft, and having done that it was inevitable to find my way back to this point.”

Norfolk-born Orton has always been a traveller, heading to Thailand for a short period, residing with Buddhist nuns after the death of her mother when she was 19, and then touring with theatre company Une Saison en Enfer throughout Russia and Ukraine. 

But despite this travel under her belt, the relocation with her family to the city of angels was a big task.

“Relocating completely when you have small children is a really de-stabilizing thing to do,” says Orton. “But it was inspiring. You get an identity shift, and that is a good thing creatively it just mixes everything up.”