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Jun 02, 2026 By Mark Redfern Photography by Kasia Wozniak

British singer/songwriter Beth Orton is releasing a new album, The Ground Above, on June 26 via Partisan. Now she has shared its third single, “Otherside,” plus a live performance video for the song. Check them both out below.

Orton had this to say about the song in a press release: “I heard that the first birdsong of a new day is the sound of the birds letting it be known they are still here, that they have made it through the night alive and safe…. With ‘Otherside,’ what began as a not so simple tale of sleeplessness went on to have me turning over bigger themes, those of resilience in the face of loss, what freedom means to the individual and the collective; the ability to start again and make beautiful a life when it has been torn apart. An embodiment of what it feels like to implore a loved one home, to make it through the night, or to make it through a day, to make good what we dare to dream.”

Of the live video, Orton adds: “I can think of no better way to introduce some of the musicians who worked on my upcoming record than by way of this live recorded video directed by Iain and Jane Pollard and Joseph Lynn.”

Iain and Jane Pollard had this to say: “Filming Beth felt like catching an artist mid-transformation. Once a patron saint of fragility, now she’s like an astronaut exploring the vast orbit of her own soul. There’s a moment when an artist pushes past their limits and something shifts. Being there for that is rare. Capturing even a piece of it felt like a privilege.”

In March Orton shared the album’s eight minute long title track (also its opening track). “The Ground Above” was #1 on our Songs of the Week list. Its second single, “Waiting,” also landed on Songs of the Week at #1.

The Ground Above follows Orton’s acclaimed album Weather Alive, which was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2022. Like Weather Alive, Orton self-produced The Ground Above. The album features multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, Vernon Spring’s Sam Beste, drummers Chris Vatalaro (Antibalas, Radiohead), Vishal Nayak (Nick Hakim), Paul Butler (The Bees and Michael Kiwanuka), Trumpet player Christos Styliande, bassist Tom Herbert, and Dave Okumu (The Invisible).

The press release describes the themes tackled on the album: “Throughout the album, Orton documents survival and renewal, motherhood and identity, political unease, and the ongoing choice to stay—in love, in art, and in the world.”

Read our interview with Beth Orton on Weather Alive.

Beth Orton Tour Dates:

15 Sep 2026 — Washington, DC — The Miracle Theatre
16 Sep 2026 — Philadelphia, PA — Baby Grand
18 Sep 2026 — New York, NY — Le Poisson Rouge
19 Sep 2026 — Somerville, MA — Crystal Ballroom (Somerville Theatre)
20 Sep 2026 — Turners Falls, MA — Shea Theater
22 Sep 2026 — Toronto, ON — The Concert Hall
23 Sep 2026 — Detroit, MI — El Club
24 Sep 2026 — Chicago, IL — Old Town School of Folk Music (Maurer Hall)
26 Sep 2026 — Minneapolis, MN — Parkway Theater
28 Sep 2026 — Los Angeles, CA — Troubadour
30 Sep 2026 — San Francisco, CA — Great American Music Hall
2 Oct 2026 — Portland, OR — The Old Church
3 Oct 2026 — Seattle, WA — Washington Hall
23–26 July — Suffolk, UK — Latitude Festival
12 Oct 2026 — Brighton, UK — Concorde 2
13 Oct 2026 — Manchester, UK — Stoller Hall
14 Oct 2026 — Nottingham, UK — Rescue Rooms
16 Oct 2026 — Leeds, UK — Howard Assembly Room
17 Oct 2026 — Glasgow, UK — St. Luke’s
19 Oct 2026 — Bristol, UK — Trinity Centre
21 Oct 2026 — Norwich, UK — Arts Centre
22 Oct 2026 — London, UK — Alexandra Palace Theatre

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