Song of the Week - Beth Gibbons - Floating On A Moment

 

This week’s song of the week is an absolute no brainer of a choice.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Portishead, particularly their first 2 albums and the Roseland NYC Live recording. The band also played one of my most memorable and magical shows ever; Glastonbury Festival 1998. Together with my then 3 months pregnant partner we had already endured biblical storms and a crushingly dull set from Cornershop on the Jazz World Stage, now known as West Holts. Cold, tired and miserable we were about to give up and go back to our tent (which at this point had a small stream running through the middle of it) but held on for Portishead. The band were late on stage, having got stuck in the mud themselves, but once they started the dark clouds really did show they had a silver lining. Words such as haunting, mesmerising, and beautiful didn’t do the performance justice. With lightning striking down from the heavens behind the stage we shivered both with the cold and emotional goosebumps; it was worth every moment. It’s a moment in time that both of us, 26 years on, still remember with huge affection. A moment that made life worth living and sharing with someone.

Which brings us to Beth Gibbons new single. The lead vocalist of Portishead returns after a lengthy hiatus with another song to captivate our hearts. Taken from forthcoming album Lives Outgrown released via Domino, Floating On A Moment is perhaps half-surprising in that Beth Gibbons still sounds, after all this time, exactly like Beth Gibbons. Her croon is unmistakeable and once again her sorrowful but magnetic voice sends shivers down the spine.

Beth, just like all of us is getting older. There’s a realisation that our bodies are only finite and ultimately there is nothing we can do to stop our inevitable ending as she hints at death in this song: “Without control, I’m heading toward a boundary, that divides us, reminds us, travelling, on a voyage where the living, they have never been, have never seen.”

Despite the subject of the song, Floating On A Moment breathes life into our existence. Guaranteed to make even the most hardened of adult weep. Enjoy life whilst you've got it. Yes, there are many horrible things going on in the world, but wherever you can try to appreciate the good stuff. Like this.

Beth Gibbons - Floating On A Moment