Lives Outgrown is the second solo studio album by the English singer Beth Gibbons, released on 17 May 2024 through Domino Recording Company. It was produced by Gibbons, James Ford and Lee Harris. It was preceded by the singles "Floating on a Moment", "Reaching Out", and "Lost Changes". Lives Outgrown received critical acclaim, and was nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize.

Writing Gibbons wrote Lives Outgrown over a decade, with topics specific to her walk of life nearing age 60, including "motherhood, anxiety, menopause, and mortality". Gibbons said it was influenced by the deaths of family and friends over the preceding several years and she "realised what life was like with no hope".

Release On 7 February 2024, Gibbons announced Lives Outgrown alongside its lead single, "Floating on a Moment". She released the second single, "Reaching Out", on 10 April. The third single, "Lost Changes", was released on 15 May.

Critical reception

Lives Outgrown received a score of 88 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 22 critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim". Uncut felt that "Lives Outgrown is a quite different prospect to Gibbons' previous work – more intimate, more personal, coloured by the grief and goodbyes she has weathered in recent years. But it is still possible to find a thread that runs from here to Out of Season, and back to Portishead." The Wire called it "timeless and considered" and "a complete, but still complicated, portrait of the intersection of grief and life", and Mojo wrote that while it can "all sound bleak[, ...] Lives Outgrown is also very beautiful".

The Skinnys Patrick Gamble described Lives Outgrown as "a haunting collection of torch songs" as well as "a record about departures and the transition to a new equilibrium". Charles Lyons-Burt of Slant Magazine said it "picks up where Portishead's 2008 album, Third, left off, with detail-rich orchestral chamber pop backing a stunning exploration of aging and grief" that is "as captivating as it is devastating". Record Collectors Johnnie Johnstone concluded that Lives Outgrown is "an album to fall deeply in love with. If you allow them to, these songs will envelop your soul."

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Heather Phares described Lives Outgrown as "steeped in the emotional and physical realities of living long enough to bring life into the world and to see it leave ... Lives Outgrown reveals Gibbons' music is only getting richer as the years pass." Alexis Petridis from The Guardian also highlighted the growth: "A dispatch from the darker moments of middle age, Lives Outgrown is occasionally challenging, frequently beautiful and invariably gripping." Ben Cardew at Pitchfork noted the eclecticism, saying that: "Leftfield choices underscore the courageous and subtly unusual nature of Gibbons' album, which hides its eccentricity behind her deathless voice and sympathetic lyrical insight."

Year-end lists Numerous critics and publications listed Lives Outgrown in their year-end ranking of the best albums of 2024. + Select year-end rankings for Lives Outgrown Publication/critic Accolade RankAllMusicThe AllMusic 2024 Year In ReviewAlternative Press50 best albums of 2024CrackThe Top 50 Albums of 202434Double JThe 50 best albums of 202416The EconomistThe Economist's pick of the best albums of 2024The Line of Best FitThe Best Albums of the Year16The New York TimesBest Albums of 20247NPR Music50 Best Albums of 2024Mojo 75 Best Albums of 20243Mondo SonoroLos mejores discos internacionales de 202424NMEThe 50 best albums of 202426OorOOR's Eindlijst 20249PasteThe 100 Best Albums of 202415PopMattersThe 80 Best Albums of 202424Rough Trade UK Albums of the Year 202444SlantThe 50 Best Albums of 202416TimeThe 10 Best Albums of 20241Uncut 80 Best Albums of 20243

Track listing

Personnel Musicians Beth Gibbons – vocals (all tracks), backing vocals (tracks 1–9), acoustic guitar (1, 3–5, 9), guitar (2), vocoder (10) Lee Harris – drums (tracks 1–9), percussion (1, 3–6, 9, 10); daf, Mellotron (1); whistle (4), field recordings (10) James Ford – vibraphone (tracks 1, 2, 4), double bass (1, 2), piano (1, 3, 4, 6, 9), harmonium (1, 3, 9, 10), backing vocals (1, 5); Mellotron, spoons (1); cello (2–4, 6, 9), percussion (2, 4–9), bass (2, 4, 5, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (2, 4, 5, 9, 10), baritone guitar (2, 4, 5), flute (2, 4, 6–8), recorders (2, 4, 6, 7, 9), Hammond organ (2, 4), hammered dulcimer (2, 5), drums (2, 7, 8), pedal steel (2), Farfisa (3, 5, 9), dulcimer (4, 9, 10), electric guitars (4, 9); Solina, additional drums (4), bass clarinet (5, 6, 9, 10), feedback (5), guitars (6, 7); Chinese lute, synth piano, marching snare, trumpet, trombone (6); bowed saw (7, 9), EBow dulcimer (7), violin drones, acoustic bass (8, 10); 12-string acoustic guitar, resonator guitars (8); fuzz flute, violin, singing tubes (9); toms (10) Orchestrate – strings, woodwinds (tracks 1, 3); brass (1) Senab Adekunle – backing vocals (tracks 2, 4–6) Gracie – backing vocals (track 2), "instrumental ooh/hum" (10) Herbie – backing vocals (track 2) Roe – backing vocals (track 2) Raven Bush – violin (tracks 3–8, 10), viola (3–6), baritone viola (7, 8, 10), violin solo (8) William Rees – noise guitar (track 4) Robbie McIntosh – acoustic guitar (track 4) Howard Jacobs – bass saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinets, percussion, frame drum, mizmar (track 6)

Technical Beth Gibbons – production, mixing, additional engineering; string arrangement (tracks 3–8), woodwind arrangement (3) James Ford – production, mixing, engineering; string arrangement (tracks 1, 3–8), woodwind arrangement (1, 3), brass arrangement (1) Lee Harris – additional production, additional engineering; string arrangement, woodwind arrangement, brass arrangement (track 1) Matt Colton – mastering Matt Jaggar – orchestra engineering Jimmy Robertson – additional engineering Tom Leach – additional engineering Billy Foster – additional engineering George Chung – orchestra engineering assistance Bridget Samuels – string arrangement, woodwind arrangement (tracks 1, 3); brass arrangement (1)

Visuals Netsi Habel – photography, cover photo Matthew Cooper – design

Charts + Chart performance for Lives Outgrown Chart (2024) Peakposition Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 67 Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 9

References