A lot of people will argue that Beth Orton’s fortunes took a steep dive around the time she started recording Daybreaker; for whatever reason, the follow-up to Central Reservation was limp and bland, exactly the sort of trap we’d hoped Orton would never fall into. By Central Reservation Orton had already started to move away from the aesthetic she was known for initially: as a friend of mine put it, being the electronic-folkie goddess. With lusher arrangements largely eschewing the use of electronic beats, Orton’s second album balanced an evolution of her sound with an attempt to retain some of the elements that made her unique.

By 2002, quite a few others had followed the trail Orton had blazed so many years ago, but it was her own earlier material that would put Daybreaker to shame. “Paris Train” was exactly the sort of swirling mix of electronics and orchestra Orton had honed on her earlier albums, but it was mostly downhill from there. The best moments were pale retreads of earlier work, and if it weren’t for the remix album The Other Side Of Daybreak, we’d be left to wonder exactly what went so wrong. (I blame Ryan Adams.)

In its original incarnation, “Carmella” was one of the weakest tracks on Daybreaker. Too slight to leave much of an impact, “Carmella” was a prime example of Daybreaker’s flaws. Turns out what the song needed was—surprise, surprise—a bit of Four Tet. Beth Orton had earned her keep fusing electronica to an organic core; Four Tet had earned his by doing the opposite. Why the two haven’t gotten together before, I don’t know, but in hindsight it seems like the perfect collaboration. The new version of “Carmella” sounds like it came from a bolder, brighter Trailer Park, and that’s more than enough to make this one of my favourite Beth Orton songs.