Out of Season is a studio album by vocalist Beth Gibbons (of Portishead) and musician Paul Webb (under the pseudonym Rustin Man, formerly of Talk Talk). It was released on 28 October 2002 in the United Kingdom and on 7 October 2003 in the United States. Out of Season is largely a folk album with jazz leanings, with Gibbons and Webb drawing more directly on the influences of Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and Nick Drake, at which Portishead's work in trip hop only hinted. Out of Season also features contributions from Gibbons' fellow Portishead bandmate Adrian Utley and Webb's former bandmate Lee Harris. The first track of the album, "Mysteries", appears on the original soundtrack of the French movie Les Poupées Russes (The Russian Dolls), and in Wim Wenders' Palermo Shooting from 2008. The album achieved a silver certification from the BPI.
Commercial performance The album charted in some countries, peaking at number 28 in the UK, number 13 in Germany, number 36 in Switzerland, number 54 in Austria, number 19 in France, number 77 in Netherlands, number 6 in Norway and number 39 in Denmark. "Tom the Model" was released as a single on March 3, 2003, and reached number 70 in the UK. A video for the song was directed by Chris Bran and it featured Gibbons performing in front of a theatre crowd. The album was re-released in October 2019 on vinyl and entered the British charts at number 24.
Track listing All songs written by Beth Gibbons and Paul Webb, except where noted otherwise. "Mysteries" – 4:39 "Tom the Model" – 3:41 "Show" (Gibbons) – 4:26 "Romance" – 5:09 "Sand River" (Webb) – 3:48 "Spider Monkey" – 4:10 "Resolve" – 2:51 "Drake" – 3:54 "Funny Time of Year" – 6:48 "Rustin Man" – 4:20 American edition bonus track "Candy Says" (live) (Lou Reed) – 5:20
Personnel Musicians Beth Gibbons – acoustic guitar, arrangements, vocals, vocoder Paul Webb – percussion, piano, accordion, arrangements, electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals Rebecca Lublinski – flute Rachel Samuel – cello John Baggott – piano, Wurlitzer Gary Baldwin – organ John Barclay – flugelhorn Martyn Barker – percussion, conga Mark Berrow – violin Rachael Brown – backing vocals Lurine Cato – backing vocals Ben Chappell – cello Clive Deamer – drums, tympani Philip Dukes – viola Simon Edwards – bass guitar, double bass Mark Feltham – harmonica Andrew Findon – alto flute Pete Glenister – acoustic guitar Leo Green – horn Section Lee Harris – drums Nick Ingman – conductor, orchestration Mitchell John – backing vocals Patrick Kiernan – violin Boguslaw Kostecki – violin Peter Lale – viola Martin Loveday – cello Neill MacColl – acoustic guitar, Ebow Perry Mason – violin Lorraine McIntosh – backing vocals Frank Ricotti – vibraphone Eddie Roberts – violin Nina Robertson – alto flute Joy Rose – backing vocals Mary Scully – double bass Chris Tombling – violin Jonathan Tunnell – cello Adrian Utley – organ, acoustic guitar, bass, guitar, electric guitar, Moog synthesizer, Ebow, baritone guitar Bruce White – viola Dave Woodcock – violin Gavyn Wright – violin Warren Zielinski – violin
Production Frank Arkwright – mastering Ryan Art – design Mark Bishop – mixing assistant, assistant Phill Brown – engineer, mixing Peter Dickinson – photography Niven Garland – engineer Beth Gibbons – producer, engineer Andy Montgomery – engineer Neil Perry – engineer Albert Pinheiro – assistant Adrian Utley – additional production, engineer, effects Eva Vermandel – photography Paul Webb – producer, mixing, effects
Charts + 2002–2003 weekly chart performance for Out of Season Chart (2002–2003) Peakposition + 2024 weekly chart performance for Out of Season Chart (2024) Peakposition
Certifications
References