Lives Outgrown
| Lives Outgrown | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 May 2024 | |||
| 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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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" and "Reaching Out".[3] The album received positive reviews from critics.
Background and composition[edit]
Gibbons wrote the album over a decade, with topics 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".[4]
Critical reception[edit]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 89/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| Mojo |  [8] |
| NME | [9] |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10[10] |
| Record Collector | [11] |
| The Skinny | [12] |
| Slant Magazine | [13] |
| Uncut | 9/10[14] |
Lives Outgrown received a score of 89 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 16 critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim".[5] 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".[14] The Wire called it "timeless and considered" and "a complete, but still complicated, portrait of the intersection of grief and life",[15] and Mojo wrote that while it can "all sound bleak[, ...] Lives Outgrown is also very beautiful".[8]
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".[12] 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".[13] 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."[11]
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."[6] 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."[7] 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."[10]
Track listing[edit]
All lyrics are written by Beth Gibbons.
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tell Me Who You Are Today" |
| 3:55 |
| 2. | "Floating on a Moment" | Gibbons | 5:26 |
| 3. | "Burden of Life" |
| 3:35 |
| 4. | "Lost Changes" | Gibbons | 5:41 |
| 5. | "Rewind" |
| 4:47 |
| 6. | "Reaching Out" | Gibbons | 4:15 |
| 7. | "Oceans" | Gibbons | 3:43 |
| 8. | "For Sale" | Gibbons | 4:25 |
| 9. | "Beyond the Sun" |
| 3:54 |
| 10. | "Whispering Love" | Gibbons | 6:10 |
| Total length: | 45:51 | ||
Personnel[edit]
- Beth Gibbons – vocals, production, mixing (all tracks); engineering (tracks 1, 3–10), arrangement (3, 8, 9)
- James Ford – production, mixing, engineering (all tracks); arrangement (tracks 3, 8)
- Bridget Samuels – arrangement (tracks 1, 3)
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.
- ^ 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 18 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.