Lives Outgrown is the debut solo studio album by English musician Beth Gibbons, released on 17 May 2024 through Domino Recording Company.[1] The album was produced by Gibbons, James Ford and Lee Harris.[2] It was preceded by the singles "Floating on a Moment", "Reaching Out" and "Lost Changes".[3][4] The album received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize.[5]
| Lives Outgrown | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 May 2024 | |||
| Recorded |
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| Genre | Chamber pop | |||
| Length | 45:51 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer |
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| Beth Gibbons chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Lives Outgrown | ||||
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Background and composition
editGibbons wrote the album over a decade, with topics specific to her walk of life nearing age 60, including "motherhood, anxiety, menopause, and mortality".[1] Gibbons said that the album was directly influenced by the deaths of family and friends over the preceding several years and she "realised what life was like with no hope".[6]
Critical reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 88/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| The Guardian | [9] |
| Mojo |  [10] |
| NME | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10[12] |
| Record Collector | [13] |
| The Skinny | [14] |
| Slant Magazine | [15] |
| Uncut | 9/10[16] |
Lives Outgrown received a score of 88 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 22 critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim".[7] Uncut felt that "Lives Outgrown is a quite different prospect to Gibbons' previous work – more intimate, more personal, coloured by the grief and goodbyes she has weathered in recent years. But it is still possible to find a thread that runs from here to Out of Season, and back to Portishead".[16] The Wire called it "timeless and considered" and "a complete, but still complicated, portrait of the intersection of grief and life",[17] and Mojo wrote that while it can "all sound bleak[, ...] Lives Outgrown is also very beautiful".[10]
The Skinny's Patrick Gamble described the album as "a haunting collection of torch songs" as well as "a record about departures and the transition to a new equilibrium".[14] Charles Lyons-Burt of Slant Magazine said that it "picks up where Portishead's 2008 album, Third, left off, with detail-rich orchestral chamber pop backing a stunning exploration of aging and grief" that is "as captivating as it is devastating".[15] Record Collector's Johnnie Johnstone concluded that Lives Outgrown is "an album to fall deeply in love with. If you allow them to, these songs will envelop your soul."[13]
Reviewing the album for AllMusic. Heather Phares described the album as being, "steeped in the emotional and physical realities of living long enough to bring life into the world and to see it leave" and concluded that "Lives Outgrown reveals Gibbons' music is only getting richer as the years pass."[8] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian also highlighted the level of growth displayed on the album, writing: "A dispatch from the darker moments of middle age, Lives Outgrown is occasionally challenging, frequently beautiful and invariably gripping."[9] Ben Cardew at Pitchfork noted the eclecticism of Gibbon's music, saying that "Leftfield choices underscore the courageous and subtly unusual nature of Gibbons' album, which hides its eccentricity behind her deathless voice and sympathetic lyrical insight."[12]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Beth Gibbons; "Tell Me Who You Are Today", "Burden of Life", "Rewind", and "Beyond the Sun" written with Lee Harris.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tell Me Who You Are Today" | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Floating on a Moment" | 5:26 |
| 3. | "Burden of Life" | 3:35 |
| 4. | "Lost Changes" | 5:41 |
| 5. | "Rewind" | 4:47 |
| 6. | "Reaching Out" | 4:15 |
| 7. | "Oceans" | 3:43 |
| 8. | "For Sale" | 4:25 |
| 9. | "Beyond the Sun" | 3:54 |
| 10. | "Whispering Love" | 6:10 |
| Total length: | 45:51 | |
Personnel
editMusicians
- Beth Gibbons – vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (tracks 1–9), acoustic guitar (1, 3–5, 9), guitar (2), vocoder (10)
- Lee Harris – drums (tracks 1–9), percussion (1, 3–6, 9, 10); daf, Mellotron (1); whistle (4), field recordings (10)
- James Ford – vibraphone (tracks 1, 2, 4), double bass (1, 2), piano (1, 3, 4, 6, 9), harmonium (1, 3, 9, 10), backing vocals (1, 5); Mellotron, spoons (1); cello (2–4, 6, 9), percussion (2, 4–9), bass (2, 4, 5, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (2, 4, 5, 9, 10), baritone guitar (2, 4, 5), flute (2, 4, 6–8), recorders (2, 4, 6, 7, 9), Hammond organ (2, 4), hammered dulcimer (2, 5), drums (2, 7, 8), pedal steel (2), Farfisa (3, 5, 9), dulcimer (4, 9, 10), electric guitars (4, 9); Solina, additional drums (4), bass clarinet (5, 6, 9, 10), feedback (5), guitars (6, 7); Chinese lute, synth piano, marching snare, trumpet, trombone (6); bowed saw (7, 9), EBow dulcimer (7), violin drones, acoustic bass (8, 10); 12-string acoustic guitar, resonator guitars (8); fuzz flute, violin, singing tubes (9); toms (10)
- Orchestrate – strings, woodwinds (tracks 1, 3); brass (1)
- Senab Adekunle – backing vocals (tracks 2, 4–6)
- Gracie – backing vocals (track 2), "instrumental ooh/hum" (10)
- Herbie – backing vocals (track 2)
- Roe – backing vocals (track 2)
- Raven Bush – violin (tracks 3–8, 10), viola (3–6), baritone viola (7, 8, 10), violin solo (8)
- William Rees – noise guitar (track 4)
- Robbie McIntosh – acoustic guitar (track 4)
- Howard Jacobs – bass saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinets, percussion, frame drum, mizmar (track 6)
Technical
- Beth Gibbons – production, mixing, additional engineering; string arrangement (tracks 3–8), woodwind arrangement (3)
- James Ford – production, mixing, engineering; string arrangement (tracks 1, 3–8), woodwind arrangement (1, 3), brass arrangement (1)
- Lee Harris – additional production, additional engineering; string arrangement, woodwind arrangement, brass arrangement (track 1)
- Matt Colton – mastering
- Matt Jaggar – orchestra engineering
- Jimmy Robertson – additional engineering
- Tom Leach – additional engineering
- Billy Foster – additional engineering
- George Chung – orchestra engineering assistance
- Bridget Samuels – string arrangement, woodwind arrangement (tracks 1, 3); brass arrangement (1)
Visuals
- Netsi Habel – photography, cover photo
- Matthew Cooper – design
Charts
edit| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] | 50 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] | 11 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] | 4 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22] | 15 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] | 14 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[24] | 13 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] | 5 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] | 96 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] | 69 |
| Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[28] | 67 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] | 37 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[30] | 69 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[31] | 9 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] | 4 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[33] | 36 |
| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] | 9 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] | 4 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[36] | 7 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[37] | 1 |
References
edit- ^ a b Kreps, Daniel (7 February 2024). "Portishead Singer Beth Gibbons Announces First-Ever Solo Album Lives Outgrown". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Eede, Christian (8 February 2024). "Beth Gibbons Reveals Debut Solo LP, Lives Outgrown". The Quietus. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Singh, Surej (11 April 2024). "Portishead's Beth Gibbons shares new solo track 'Reaching Out'". NME. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Grow, Kory (15 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons Will Break Your Heart With 'Lost Changes'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "2024 Mercury Prize 'Albums of the Year' revealed". Mercury Prize. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Murray, Robin (8 February 2024). "Beth Gibbons Confirms Solo Album Lives Outgrown". Clash. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ a b Phares, Heather (17 May 2024). "Lives Outgrown – Beth Gibbons". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (16 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons: Lives Outgrown review – long-awaited solo debut is a gripping study of ageing and loss". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Mojo. June 2024. p. 80.
- ^ Baines, Huw (16 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown review: Portishead vocalist's solo bow is an enthralling study of time and loss". NME. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ a b Cardew, Ben (17 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons: Lives Outgrown Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ a b Johnstone, Johnnie (21 April 2024). "Lives Outgrown | Beth Gibbons". Record Collector. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ a b Gamble, Patrick (13 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". The Skinny. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ a b Lyons-Burt, Charles (13 May 2024). "Beth Gibbons Lives Outgrown Review: A Grim Portrait of Mortality". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Uncut. June 2024. p. 23.
- ^ Biddles, Claire (June 2024). "Beth Gibbons: Lives Outgrown". The Wire. p. 50.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Top Albums (Week 21, 2024)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Beth Gibbons". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of May 22, 2024". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 17.05.2024–23.05.2024 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 22". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2024.