Beth Gibbons: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Backing vocals / Lee Harris: Drums, Daff, Percussion, Mellotron / James Ford: Backing vocals, Harmonium, Mellotron, Vibraphone, Piano spoons, Double bass Strings, Woodwind and Brass performed by Orchestrate / Strings, Woodwind and Brass written by Lee Harris, arranged by James Ford, Lee Harris and Bridget Samuels (every song comes with a detailed list of the players involved. People who know the Kate Bush family, may know Raven Bush who has some appearances on the album. This is the list of the first song, „Tell Me Who You Are Today“, Lee Harris is co-credited as composer on several tracks)

a review as a work in progress, this one. Every day add something somewhere, a thought that comes to mind, skip, what makes less sense. Sometimes a thought developing, on the other hand a collection of impressions. The fun thing will be, if my enthusiasm is a minority thing. No problem with that. With the „Julia Holter review duo“, we are at least two who will make it an „album of the year“, probably. That said, none of my other nine favourites are (in my merciless ears) less than brilliant. These are subtle differences that often let themselves reduce to taste and preference and mood. Julia’s work is the living example of a grower, and being focused on fluidity (water), the sounds tend to the upper register, the ethereal. So, they are not as easily accesssible than Beth Gibbons’ hypermelodic „down to earth“ retro folk (and beyind) charms. Maybe this album from BG made me so enthuastic, too, because here again, like on her earlier works, you will find a hard-to-grasp melange of vocal excellence and irresistible sounds around t („the landscape she’s moving through“). I cannot praise enough the production work of James Ford (who entered the scene much later in the timeline), and the masterclass of Lee Harris who was part of the journey from start on. The spirit of „spirit of eden“ maybe a bit too smart to work as a reference, cause the „feel“ is so different. For someone who nearly has „cult followers“ in regards to her vocal style (a cult big enough to sell out big venues), „Lives Outgrown“ in fact appears as her masterpiece, not relying on old formula. This review (though well hidden under the radar of this blog) is the first one in the web (as in print and radio). The next two „Plattenbesprechungen“ will follow in Uncut and Mojo. „Lives Outgrown“ is the „FLOWWORKER ALBUM OF MAY“. And another question, Mr. Westfeld, do you feel reminded of other albums from other artists here? It has somehow that „instant classic“ appeal and „vibe“ of early albums of the new British folk-revival scenes of the late 60‘s and early 70‘s, but not as a first thought that springs to mind.) After the album‘s release on May 17, this album will be part of the playlist pf my next edition of „Klanghorizonte“ (Deitschlandfunk), along with – probably – some other extraordinary records by Julia Holter, Nico, Arushi Jain, a nun from Ethiopia and more.

From the start, all of her works have been collaborative. In the very early days when strolling through small venues and pubs, she relied on a repertoire of classics, made famous by Lady Day (I assume) and Janis Joplin (I have read). Later on, in the Portishead years (that perfect trio with Barrow & Utley), the silences in between, and, after the blow away zone of „Third“, out of nowhere, „Out Of Season“, the album with Paul Webb aka Rustin Man, at last singing Gorecki – all teamwork: the intricacies of her voice, the surrounding sounds, the immaculate productions.

Landscapes she‘s been moving through. The urban darkness. The dystopia, the hometown. The hinterland. Between  „Dummy“ and „Out Of Season“ a strange sort of melancholia took center stage, strangely uplifting, elevating („elevator music“ of a rare kind). She led a reluctant life, never hurrying for fame.

It took her (add Lee Harris and James Ford, as time went by) around ten years from first sketches to final mixes. Her singing now reaching out so far and deep – not heard that vocal range before. Hypermelodic and far, far out at the same time. Restrainment and passion all over the place (what a strange clash of polarities). From a distance, vibes of „The Wicker Man“ and other exotica, but „Lives Outgrown“ is a unique achievement of kindred spirits, the darkest campfire chamber music we may have heard in quite a while.

The old stuff laid bare: grief, growing old, losses (and what change is gonna come after sleepless nights for too long). The beyond of the everyday. „On the path / With my restless curiosity / Beyond life / Before me …“ The most „progressive“ instruments: a mellotron and an electric guitar. Floating lines (with a sense of the unexpected, you never know where the journey takes you). Passages close to catching fire (and catching fire). The glow, the gloom.

Under the surface of controlled delivery (and a breathtaking sense of details), there‘s an undeniable urgency to these songs. No involvement of cozy nostalgia, of things coming to a rest – in spite of the last song, an invovation, a dream of nature and peace of mind: what a closer of a terrific album. Beth Gibbons has painted her masterpiece. The most honest review: a painted horizon.