Portishead (band)

Portishead (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is an English electronic band formed in 1991 in Bristol. The band comprises Beth Gibbons (vocals), Geoff Barrow (multiple instruments, production), and Adrian Utley (guitar). Dave McDonald, an audio engineer who helped produce their first two albums, is sometimes regarded as the fourth member.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Portishead's debut album, Dummy (1994), fused hip-hop production with an atmospheric style reminiscent of spy film soundtracks and yearning vocals from Gibbons. It was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, becoming a landmark album in the emerging trip-hop genre. However, the band disliked being associated with the term.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> Their two other studio albums, Portishead (1997) and Third (2008), received similar acclaim. Portishead have also released the live album Roseland NYC Live (1998).

History

Formation and Dummy (1991–1995)

Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons formed the band after meeting during a coffee break at an Enterprise Allowance course in Bristol in February 1991. Taking their name from the nearby town of Portishead,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> they soon recorded "It Could Be Sweet", their first song for their debut album.<ref name=mojo>Template:Cite book</ref> They then met Adrian Utley while they were recording at the Coach House Studios in Bristol, and Utley heard the first song Barrow and Gibbons had recorded, and began to exchange ideas on music.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The resulting first album by Portishead, Dummy, was released in 1994. The cover features a still from the band's own short film To Kill a Dead Man. At this time, Portishead was a duo of Barrow and Gibbons. Adrian Utley (who co-produced the album, performed on nine of the songs, and co-wrote eight) became an official band member shortly after its release.

Despite the band's aversion to press coverage, the album was successful in both Europe and the United States (where it sold more than 150,000 copies even before the band toured there).<ref name="amg">[[[:Template:AllMusic]] Biography] AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2007</ref> Dummy was positively described by the Melody Maker as "musique noire for a movie not yet made".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Rolling Stone praised its music as "Gothic hip-hop".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Dummy spawned three singles: "Numb", "Sour Times", and "Glory Box", and won the Mercury Music Prize in 1995.<ref>Mercury Music Prize Winners BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2007</ref> The success of the album saw the band nominated for Best British Newcomer at the 1995 Brit Awards.<ref name="Brits">Portishead BRITs Profile Template:Webarchive BRIT Awards Ltd. Retrieved 21 November 2012</ref> Dummy was ranked number 419 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine </ref> The album is often considered one of the greatest trip hop albums to date and is a milestone in the definition of the genre.

Portishead and hiatus (1996–2004)

After their initial success, Portishead took a break from the spotlight and touring until their second album, Portishead, was released in 1997. The album's sound differed from Dummy, characterised as "grainy and harsher", with increased use of live instrumentation and less reliance on sampling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Three singles, "All Mine", "Over" and "Only You" were released, the first one achieving a Top 10 placing in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1997, the band performed a one-off show with strings at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City; primarily featuring recordings from the show, the live album, Roseland NYC Live, includes orchestral arrangements of the group's songs and was released in 1998.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1999, Portishead recorded the song "Motherless Child" with Tom Jones for his album Reload. A DVD of Portishead's Roseland Ballroom performance, with substantial extra material including many early musical videos, was released in 2002. For the next few years, the band members concentrated on solo projects and other pursuits.

Third (2005–2008)

In February 2005, the band appeared live for the first time in seven years at the Tsunami Benefit Concert in Bristol.<ref>Tsunami benefit concert review BBC Music. Retrieved 5 January 2008</ref> Around that time, Barrow revealed that the band was in the process of writing its third album. In August 2006, the band posted two new tracks on its MySpace page (called "Key Bored 299 03" and "Greek Jam"), described by Barrow as "doodles".<ref>Quote from Geoff Barrow The Guardian 29 August 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2007</ref> Around the same time, Portishead covered Serge Gainsbourg's "Un Jour Comme un Autre (Requiem for Anna)" on the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited.

On 2 October 2007, Portishead stated that the new album Third had been mixed and was nearly complete, and was due for release in early April 2008. The release was later pushed to 28 April. On 8 and 9 December 2007, the band curated the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, England. The festival featured their first full live sets in nearly 10 years.<ref>Review of December 2007 ATP shows Template:Webarchive StrangeGlue.com. Retrieved 27 December 2007</ref> They premiered five tracks from the new album: "Silence", "Hunter", "The Rip", "We Carry On", and "Machine Gun". On 21 January 2008, a European tour to support the album was announced,<ref>Portishead announce 2008 tour NME. Retrieved 27 January 2008</ref> together with a headline spot at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 26 April 2008,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> their only U.S. date on the tour.

File:Beth Gibbons - Portishead.jpg

Beth Gibbons in 2008

Third was made available on Last.fm the week before release, attracting 327,000 listeners in just under 24 hours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was the first time Last.fm had made an album available before its official release date. The album was released on 29 April 2008 to coincide with the band's appearance at Coachella.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 18 May 2008, Barrow expressed Portishead's enthusiasm for recording new material on their website's blog, stating that he "can't wait to write some new tunes".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Adrian Utley - Portishead - 2.jpg

Adrian Utley in 2008

Later work (2009–present)

On 28 September 2009, Barrow announced "big plans" for a new project with a new angle, hinting that an album could arrive as soon as late 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Whilst the album had yet to materialise, on 9 December 2009, the band released the song "Chase the Tear" for Human Rights Day to raise money for Amnesty International UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, on 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan reissued the albums Dummy and Portishead in limited edition on SHM-CD.

File:Geoff Barrow - Portishead - Roskilde Festival 2011.jpg

Geoff Barrow in 2011

During Summer 2011, Portishead performed at a number of festivals in Europe, including, Pohoda Festival, Exit Festival, Benicàssim Festival in Spain,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rock Werchter, Paleo Festival, Roskilde Festival, the Hurricane/Southside Festivals in Germany, and the Super Bock Super Rock music festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band also headlined and curated the line-up for two All Tomorrow's Parties music festivals entitled I'll Be Your Mirror, in London at Alexandra Palace on 23 and 24 July.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The second took place in Asbury Park, New Jersey, from 30 September – 2 October.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Barrow stated that he realised a "boyhood fantasy" when Chuck D of Public Enemy joined the band onstage at the "ATP I'll Be Your Mirror" festival curated by Portishead in Asbury Park, NJ in October 2011. He contributed his verse from the Public Enemy song "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" over Portishead's single "Machine Gun".<ref>Portishead on Public Enemy Template:Webarchive TheQuietus.com. Retrieved 11 June 2008</ref> Portishead then visited several cities in North America, including New York, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Seattle, Vancouver, and Denver during October. The Chicago Tribune hailed the concert and noted: "horror-movie accents—Gothic organ, guitar lines thick with menacing reverb, spooky theremin—ensured a certain darkness".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They finished their tour with a jaunt to Australia and New Zealand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Barrow stated in a Rolling Stone interview that he would begin work on his portion of the album in January 2012, jokingly pointing out that it could be another decade before a new album is released.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2013, the band headlined the Other Stage at the Glastonbury Music festival and embarked on a European tour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In summer 2014, they played several concerts around Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2015 saw Portishead continue to perform live, playing festivals such as fib (Benicassim, Spain), Latitude (Southwold, Suffolk, UK), and the Montreux Jazz Festival (Montreux, Switzerland).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, Portishead produced a cover of ABBA's song "SOS" for the soundtrack to the movie High-Rise which had a Gala screening at the London Film Festival on 9 October 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016, the band won an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.<ref name="Ivors2016">Template:Cite web</ref> On 22 June 2016, Portishead released a video for "SOS" that recontextualized the song in the wake of the then-recent murder of member of parliament Jo Cox and the Brexit vote.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 2 May 2022, Portishead performed for the first time in seven years at O2 Academy Bristol. Organized by War Child UK, the concert benefited refugees and children affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lead singer Beth Gibbons would also appear on rapper Kendrick Lamar's song "Mother I Sober" from the album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, released on 13 May.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, Portishead reissued Roseland NYC Live. The new tracklist includes previously omitted songs and restores other tracks which had been replaced with alternate versions on the 1998 album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gibbons released her debut solo album, Lives Outgrown, in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Style and influences

Portishead's music was influenced by a wide range of singers and composers. Gibbons's voice has been compared to singer Billie Holiday.<ref name=spin>Template:Cite journal</ref> Utley mentioned the spaghetti western guitar composed by Ennio Morricone; he said that "[Morricone's] The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the sort of soundtrack that I love".<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Members

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Current members

• Beth Gibbons – vocals, production
• Geoff Barrow – piano, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, drums, production
• Adrian Utley – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, production

Recurring collaborators

• Dave McDonaldTemplate:NoteTag – engineering, production
• Clive Deamer – drums

Discography

• Dummy (1994)
• Portishead (1997)
• Third (2008)

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
1995	Mercury Prize	Dummy	Album of the Year	Template:Won
	NME Awards	Themselves	Best Dance Act	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	MTV Europe Music Awards		Best New Act	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Edison Awards		Best International Dance/Rap	Template:Won
	Brit Awards		British Breakthrough Act	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1997	GAFFA Awards (Denmark)	Beth Gibbons	Best Foreign Female Act	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1998	Žebřík Music Awards		Best International Female	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1999	Online Music Awards	Themselves	Best Alternative Fansite	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2008	Rober Awards Music Prize		Best Band	Template:Won	<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>
			Cutting Edge	Template:Won
			Best Electronica	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
		Third	Album of the Year	Template:Won	<ref name="auto"/>
		"The Rip"	Single of the Year	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2011		Themselves	Best Live Artist	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2016	Ivor Novello Awards		Outstanding Contribution to British Music	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Music Week Sync Awards	"SOS"	Film Soundtrack	Template:Won
	Rober Awards Music Poll		Best Cover Version	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> See also Beak, musical project with Geoff Barrow Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man Notes <references group="note" /> References External links Template:Official website Template:Discogs artist Template:AllMusic