New longplayers
19 May 2024
BETH GIBBONS was the voice/face of renowned British outfit
Portishead who released (only) 3 LPs between 1994
and 2008.
In recent years she collaborated with several other artists and
here she’s now with her solo debut LP named LIVES OUTGROWN .
The longplayer was recorded over the last decade and includes with production
by Gibbons, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode), and Lee Harris (Talk Talk).
It takes inspiration from a time of deep reflection, change, and, “lots of goodbyes.”
Gibbons about the album: “I realised what life was like with no hope. And that was
a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do. People started
dying.
When you’re young, you never know the endings, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out.
You think: we’re going to get beyond this. It’s going to get better. Some endings are hard to digest.”
Pitchfork says: “The Portishead singer reintroduces herself with her debut solo album.
History weighs heavy on her songs, but she takes pains to avoid her musical past. Leftfield choices underscore the courageous and subtly unusual nature of Gibbons’ album, which
hides its eccentricity behind her deathless voice and sympathetic lyrical insight.” 8/10
TUTV: It’s already 30 years since British trip-hop-pop collective Portishead made
impressive sonic waves with their unearthly debut album Dummy where layered
synth-pop textures, trip-hop rhythms and Gibbons‘ introvertive vocals created
a singular re-echoing sound.
Gibbons still has that ghostly vocal timbre, as if she wanders and sings, in slow-mo,
in a thick fog far away from the real world and her pains of loss. Musically, the tone
is both delicate and tender, mysterious and introspective, with an overall sense of disturbing catharsis, accompanied by mourning strings, big drums and subtle, acoustic guitars. You need several spins to connect with Gibbons‘ enigmatic world.
Standout single
ALBUM
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Europe/UK Tour
