Personnel: Beth Gibbons, Paul Webb

1. Mysteries
2. Tom The Model
3. Show
4. Romance
5. Sand River
6. Spider Monkey
7. Resolve
8. Drake
9. Funny Time Of Year
10. Rustin Man

http://www.bethgibbons.com

“Out of Season,” the debut solo recording by
Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, reveals that her eerie
talent is somewhat overwhelmed by that band’s
studio trickery. When drenched by sample-laden
music, with sonic treasures surfacing every
minute, it is easy to take her vocal talent for
granted. “Out of Season,” Gibbons’ collaboration
with Talk Talk’s Paul Webb is stripped down, by
contrast. The references to film noir and 60’s
spy flicks remain in several songs; but for the
most part, this is a psychedelic folk-blues
album, of the type that Webb’s former band used
to specialize in. Hushed strings, muted
trumpets, meandering electronic guitars share the
palette with more delicate touches, like
Wurlitzers and soft acoustics. Period touches—a
70’s female backup singers, wah-wah pedals,
appear every now and then. Webb is a wonderful
song-shaper, in the Jon Brion mold, minus the
gimmicks. There’s an organic feel to his
collages. The production is very respectful of
Gibbon’s voice.

Much is made about Gibbon’s chilly, distant
delivery. She often sings like a girl locked in
her room, each phrase measured and dripping with
the fear of discovery. She’s like ‘Little
Voice,’ recasted as frightened child, rather than
an offbeat moppet. Her lyrics are intense and
inward, the words of a woman seduced by the
Hollywood image of romance and betrayed at every
turn. It’s an unhealthily intimate pose. On
Portishead’s records, Gibbons becomes a tragic,
tear-stained waif, fitting for the bombastic,
angst-ridden soundtracks. By removing the
attention-getting cinematography, Gibbons’ gifts
come to the forefront. She’s like musical
channeler, summoning the spirits of Billie
Holiday, Nina Simone and Sandy Denny with
dreadful accuracy. “Romance” captures Lady Day
in her burnished, heroin-laced descent, with
Gibbons voice crackling like an old womans,’
grasping for former glory. “Funny Time Of Year”
conjures Simone’s smoky clarion call, pitch
perfect. And the plainsong beauty of the late
Denny is evoked by “Drake.” The curious, retro
feel of the work is disrupted by the disturbing
song, “Rustin Man,” which has Gibbon witchily
singing to a mythic blues figure against Webb’s
fractured samples. It is reminiscent of the work
that John Cale did with that other doomed
chanteuse, Nico.

“Out of Season” is a beautiful, bleak album; it
belongs on the shelf, between Cassandra Wilson’s
“New Moon Daughter” and Goldfrapp’s “Felt
Mountain.”

--Craig

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