1973

Album: Kidsticks (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • The lead single from Kidsticks, "1973" features guitar work from Dominican-American singer-songwriter Twin Shadow.
  • Beth Orton was two-years-old in 1973. She said: "During the writing of the record I experienced different realities running consecutively. The idea of identity lost and found runs throughout the record. '1973' plays with this idea of memory and reality."
  • The video was created by photographer and director Tierney Gearon, of whom Orton said: "As soon as I saw Tierney's work I knew she would be perfect for Kidsticks. I love her use of color and her layering of images."

    "There's a surreal nature to Tierney's work that I love, as well as her use of the Californian landscape and light", she added.
  • The video shows Orton spray painting a Joshua Tree. The English singer got backlash for defacing the plant which is protected by the US government. Orton wrote in response an apology on her Facebook page saying she was under the impression that the Joshua Tree was dead, and that the clip would be taken down.

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