Next January 4th Beth Gibbons will turn sixty, an appointment included in a very important time period, one where if you take a look at the path left behind, you find the light-heartedness, curiosity, impulsiveness and audacity of youthful age, but also the growth and maturation achieved, the craziest adventures and events, together with step who have built, time after time, the person you are now.
At the same time as all this, there is also a precious trunk containing all the sentimental memories, the positive ones and the unfortunate ones, most likely some family losses, but also possible new lives given birth, closely connected to you: pain, joys, mistakes, intuitions, in life and work. Ahead, however, there is still a long path to take, which will no longer be as colorful and unscrupulous as the previous one, but will certainly be characterized by awareness, greater rationality and wisdom, and a high propensity to accept oneself: fundamental values which will lead to new lasting experiences. Consequently, the idea that only youth is a value is an axiom that is no longer acceptable.
These lines explain the meaning that the singer-songwriter from Exeter wanted to forge for her highly anticipated recording comeback, entitled “Lives Outgrown”, more than fifteen years away from the last of her seminal productions with Portishead and interspersed, in 2009, with the participation with the composer Krzysztof Penderecki and the Polish National Orchestra in the poignant sharing of Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3. Her very first appearance outside Portishead, to tell the truth, dates back to 2002, when she and Paul Webb, former Talk Talk bassist, gave life to the hidden gem that was “Out Of Season”.
“Lives Outgrown”, however, seems to rise to something more, taking over the real scepter of Beth's solo debut. A ten-year gestation, where the lyrics and music written by the British artist found perfect conjunction with King Midas James Ford and Bridget Samuels (production, arrangements and much more) and with Lee Harris (also co-author of four pieces), the extraordinary ex-drummer of Talk Talk, a band whose influence is recalled, at this point, no longer casually.
With reference to the broad opening reflection, Gibbons reveals a thought that dwells in the darkest rooms of that study. In the ten songs that compose it, the album is dense, layered, adorned with dark sounds, which reflect on the inexorability of the passage of time, on reflections that deal with the theme of death, of memories that recall past versions of oneself : it certainly cannot be identified as a hymn to joy.
Beth faces this different existential condition by showing a mature approach, severe when necessary, where the optimism and stubbornness of youth seem to fade towards prospects of acceptance, often achieved with hard and long-lasting commitment.
The instrumental dress given to these profound arguments could only possess the same consciousness, not at all lacking in complex harmonic structures. Portishead's misty trip-hop is light years away, as are the jazzy fragrances of the aforementioned “Out Of Season”.
“Lives Outgrown” lives on minimal majesty, the one that draws its primordial essence from the darkest and most elaborate folk and on this habitat it provides for assembling symphonic alchemies, at times psychedelic and progressive, sealed by the presence of strings and wind instruments and refined by some decidedly unconventional instruments, such as jute and dulcimer, and above all crossed by the extraordinary percussions of Lee Harris, which gradually move between tribal textures and odd rhythms obtained by caressing drums of various origins, such as unlikely domestic objects such as Tupperware containers, plastic bottles and cans .
The undisputed presenter of the program is the celestial voice of Gibbons, who shows no signs of tiredness brought on by time. Her timbre penetrates with a vibrant and sinuous personality among the wounds caused by her words, sometimes almost as if to soothe certain utterances, but much more often aimed at sealing off a sincere and ineluctable thought, which does not admit, with this interpretation, an alternative outlet.
The phases over which this artistic document unfolds pass from the sinister desolations of “Rewind”, where Harris' work on percussion is a manual to be handed down to posterity, to Raven Bush's oriental violin which adorns “For Sale”, from folk oscillating between ancient and modern of “Reaching Out”, to the silvery and very disturbing grace of “Burden Of Life”, infused with strings and guitars on full display.
The moving lyricism of “Oceans”, a place in which themes such as confusion and disorientation are developed, and the dark fervor emanating fromopener “Tell Me Who You Are Today” finds complete affirmation in “Whispering Love”, probably the song that best conveys the general message of the album, reasoning on the brevity of human life with a common thread which connects it to the physiological need to express love towards someone.
There are glimmers of vigor among the fanfares of “Beyond The Sun”, perhaps the best passage in the setlist (but it is really difficult to draw up a ranking), the elegiac closing of the single “Floating On A Moment”, the piece closest to the pop among those presented for the occasion and the richness of the arrangements of “Lost Changes”, a song that is completed in continuous progression.
Beth Gibbons' highly anticipated and effective solo debut is a manifesto that aims to communicate to the world that the only constant that involves and surrounds us is change. Year after year, the banalities of everyday life have penetrated to the bones, but the lethal arrow of passing time does not allow the possibility of rewinding the tape and a new beginning. The only secret is to face what awaits us and to treasure what happened in one's personal sphere.
“Lives Outgrown” is an exemplary gift for those who want to obtain something more from music than simple pleasure. Surrendering yourself to these layered atmospheres and at the same time meditating with the right concentration on the contents exposed will leave adequate space for reflection.
05/18/2024
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
