It's been nearly six years in the making, but come January 2012, iconic eclectic British singersongstress Beth Orton makes her long awaited return to Australia for a series of solo acoustic concert dates.

The British chanteuse begins her run of shows in Brisbane on Sunday 15^th January at the Old Museum Concert Hall, before heading to Sydney for two shows on Tuesday 17^th & Wednesday 18^th January at the City Recital Hall as part of the Sydney Festival. The tour then continues to Melbournes Athenaeum Theatre on Friday 20^th January, The Gov in Adelaide on Saturday 21^st January before finishing up in Perth with shows at The Quarry on Tuesday 24^th and Wednesday 25^th January.

Not seen down under since touring her 2006 opus Comfort of Strangers, Beth promises an intimate show that will feature material from all her classic recordings -- including Trailer Park (1996) and her two Australian chart successes Central Reservation (1999) and Daybreaker (2002) -- as well as a special sneak preview of songs from her highly anticipated upcoming album.

A fiercely independent trend-bucker from the very outset of her career, Beth Orton is well-renowned for her collaborations as for her own work -- collaborations which range in style from her early ground-breaking and innovative sessions with William Orbit and The Chemical Brothers (recordings widely acknowledged as pre-figuring the folktronica movement), to her tender haunting vocals for folk legend Bert Janschs Black Swan album.

In the time since her last release Comfort of Strangers, Beth has been busy raising a family; but with a new album imminent in 2012 (on her new label, US based ANTI-), Beth explains the interval was also a period for some serious introspection: The truth of the matter is Ive taken off time to reassess my work, to think about the songs I write, and what it is I love most about what I do. Its taken a lot to just really pull it down and deconstruct it and build it back up again. Its taken me this long to get a body of work together that I feel proud of; but these songs are like nothing Ive ever written.

Hot on the heels of recording her new album, Beth Orton's upcoming Australian dates will offer not just a rare opportunity to catch this esteemed artist, but also witness her in the process of defining a new chapter in her music.

TICKETS FOR BRISBANE, MELBOURNE & ADELAIDE ON SALE *FRIDAY 11^TH NOVEMBER, 9AM