Released: 2024

Genres: Chamber Folk, Art Rock, Singer-Songwriter

The Musiquarium’s Lives Outgrown Review Score: 5/5

Sixteen years after her last project (Portishead’s krautrock-influenced Third), Beth Gibbons returns with her first solo outing, an album of dark acoustic chamber music, reminiscent of the works of artists like Nico and John Cale.

Any aging artist will inevitably talk about getting closer to death, and while it might seem like a cliché, its the artist’s interpretation that matters here. Mortality brings out a shared vulnerability that we all have in common — death is a universal component of life that none of us can ever escape, so it’s only fair that we tend to base art around it, as it slowly but inevitably creeps toward us.

The production from James Ford (Arctic Monkeys’ frequent producer) is stunning and immaculate, and not only that, but he lends his instrumental talents on various instruments throughout the album. The album often comprises of almost tribal-like drumming, married to delicate, gorgeous acoustic guitars, as well as other instruments such as viola, flute, dulcimer, Chinese lute and the Hammond organ; it’s very different from Portishead, but you can still connect the dots to her previous work in terms of her lyricism and melodies. 

Tell Me Who You Are Today starts the album off on a dour note. Floating on a Moment floats on with its angular pedal steel guitar work. Burden of Life has droning violins and viola, reminiscent of John Cale’s work throughout The Velvet Underground & Nico. I usually despise whistling in music, as it almost always comes across as tacky, but Beth Gibbons manages to even make whistling work on Lost Changes.

Rewind takes things into a slightly eastern direction and has some very chaotic moments. Reaching Out displays some of the best drumming on the album. For Sale shows off some stunning resonator guitar work from James Ford, along with haunting strings. Whispering Love ends the album with a slightly more elated vibe and the sounds of birds chirping.

We probably won’t get another Beth Gibbons project for twenty odd years, but this album is layered enough to warrant several re-listens. Lives Outgrown is as strong as anything she’s done with Portishead and dare I say, it might possibly be her best work yet.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Beth Gibbons on Discogs.

Back to the 2024 Album Guide or the Beth Gibbons Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard