Portishead’s Beth Gibbons announces her long-awaited debut solo album

Featuring ten new tracks recorded over a period of ten years, the album was produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, The Last Dinner Party) and Beth Gibbons with additional production by Lee Harris (Talk Talk).

Lives Outgrown is the result of a period of sustained reflection and change — “lots of goodbyes,” in her own words. Farewells to family, to friends, even to her former self. These are songs from the mid-course of life, when looking ahead no longer yields what it used to, and looking back has a sudden, sharper focus. “I realised what life was like with no hope,” says Beth Gibbons. “And that was a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do.”

“People started dying,” she continues. “When you’re young, you never know the endings, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out. You think: we’re going to get beyond this. It’s going to get better. Some endings are hard to digest.” But emerging from this decade of change and realignment has left Beth with what feels like a renewed purpose. “Now I’ve come out of the other end, I just think, you’ve got to be brave,” she says.

Beth Gibbons will be performing in May and June, with shows in Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Manchester, Edinburgh, and London's Barbican Centre. Tickets are on sale from 16 February.

Tracklist:

1. Tell Me Who You Are Today
2. Floating On A Moment
3. Burden Of Life
4. Lost Changes
5. Rewind
6. Reaching Out
7. Oceans
8. For Sale
9. Beyond The Sun
10. Whispering Love