Portishead singer Beth Gibbons signed a solo deal with Domino back in 2013 and now, more than a decade later, has announced her solo debut. It’s titled Lives Outgrown and she took to Instagram to tell us just a little about it.
“As usual it reflects what’s been going on with me internally, my 50’s have brought forward a new yet older horizon,’ Beth writes. “It has been a time of farewells to family, friends and even to who I was before, the lyrics mirroring my anxieties and sleepless nighttime ruminations, hence ‘Lives Outgrown’. Not just because of the way we travel through emotional or psychological transitions in our lives but relating more to the time we leave this planet and our motion into the unknown. Something I fear but just need to try and celebrate as a moment approaching, gifting the ability to grow beyond the restraints of this physical world.”
She continues: “The sound was also a process, exploring structures within my own personal capabilities. I wanted to draw away from breakbeats and snares, focusing on the woody fabric of timbres away from the sugary addiction of high frequencies that satisfy like sugar and salt.”
As to when we’ll get to hear it, Beth says “I am able to offer some new music very soon.” In the words of Instagram commenter Sharon Van Etten, “Very exciting !!!”
Beth is performing at the 2024 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona.
