About

Out of Season plays to Beth Gibbons' strengths as a vocalist and songwriter more than anything released prior by Portishead. On both Dummy and Portishead, her pained, worn, resilient voice was often made to sound as if it was as much an artifact as the Isaac Hayes and Lalo Schifrin samples. That voice of hers was perfectly suited for the backing provided by her bandmates, but more than a few wondered if it would sound even more perfect — or in a better setting, naked and completely central — if it were supported by the type of folk, jazz, and R&B recordings it could've been plucked from in the first place. That "what if" is answered with this album, made by Gibbons in collaboration with Paul Webb, several of his fellow Talk Talk alums, and numerous others. Brass, strings, reeds, organs, acoustic guitar, double bass, and lightly brushed drums are all part of the mix, which never threatens to take the spotlight away from Gibbons.

The lyrical themes aren't much of a departure for the singer, who contemplates the passing of time and her love/hate relationship with existence throughout — one song opens with "God knows how I adore life," and then one song later, she's "So tired of life." The icing on the cake is in the little details, like the sly Carol Kaye imitation snuck in by bassist Adrian Utley during "Romance" and the way the background vocals discreetly drift in and out, alternating between serene and spooky. The sticker that came affixed to the disc contains a quote that proclaims this to be one of the best albums of all time. While that is a stretch, there's no denying that the quote below that one — "Quietly devastating" — is 100 percent accurate. — (via AllMusic)

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Portishead singer Beth Gibbons' solo debut is in the rarefied company of those records that have a dignity and otherness that sets them apart from the gaudy business of pop music.

Made in collaboration with former Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb (Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley is here, too), it isn't strictly a solo album, but the singer of these delicate, desolate songs is very much alone.

Often the songs are about memory, and the way in which slivers of intense recollected emotion become embedded in the psyche. Somewhere between folk and torch singing, Gibbons finds a series of voices, as if each song is a different character. Romance is smoky Billie Holiday; skin-prickling opener Mysteries is crystalline 1960s folk; Resolve is husky resignation.

Often incredibly sparse, sometimes lush (Tom the Model seems to quote from the heartbreak soul of Nina Simone's Do What You Gotta Do), the mood is desperately intimate, overwhelmingly autumnal. Out of Season is gorgeously uneasy listening. — (via The Guardian)

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*Autumn leaves/Pretty as can be", sighs Portishead singer Beth Gibbons on ‘Sand River’. You get the picture. Compared to her, Dot Allison sounds like a drunk rolling around in the mud and Eva Cassidy's visits to the acoustic guitar are a tribute to The Parkinsons.

Aided here by ex-Talk Talk man Paul Webb (under the alias of Rustin' Man), Beth gets all the folksiness she can't get away with during her day job off her chest. At times, as on ‘Tom The Model’, it is as good as anything legendary folk Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell combined could have come up with. At other times, when the brushes come out on erm, ‘Drake’, you feel the cold shiver of early Everything But The Girl at the door. Intriguing. — (via NME)

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Label: Go! Beat / Island Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Repress, Stereo
Reissued: 2022 / Originally Released: 2002
Genre: Jazz, Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Downtempo, Folk Rock

File under: Alternative/Indie/Pop
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