MY first exposure to the sullen, sour strains of Portishead left an indelible mark on my memory. At the time -- late August in 1994 -- their single Sour Times really was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, certainly light-years away from the brewing Britpop scene. The musical backdrop -- a blend of cinematic atmospherics, scratched beats and emotionless beeps -- has since moved slowly from otherworldly to commonplace. But there's still something obdurately unique about the voice of Beth Gibbons -- a raw, confessional frisson that can make the hairs on the back of your hands bristle.

But Portishead appear to be on an unending sabbatical -- not a Theremin peep has been heard out of them since a shivery live album in 1998. The reclusive Gibbons, however, has re-emerged in a low-key collaboration with Rustin' Man -- aka Paul Webb, founder member of 1980s art-rockers Talk Talk. Listening to the new material, it's almost like hearing Portishead for that first time again. Even in a musical landscape that stretches from the Technicolor choir-rock of The Polyphonic Spree to the crammed, sci-fi beats of modern R'n'B via the vinyl collage of DJ Shadow and The Avalanches, this is a record that still sounds like it's been recorded in some alternate folk-tale dimension: sparse, echoing and hypnotic, the songs linked by Gibbons's lacerating vocal delivery. It's a thing of uncommon beauty. But, according to Webb, we're lucky we're getting a chance to hear it at all.

'It felt like we were almost running out of time,' he sighs. 'When you've been working on something for four years, we just weren't sure when to finish it. It was weird; sometimes you feel you're so out of check with what everyone else is doing that you wonder if anyone will understand what it is.'

Gibbons -- who stopped talking to the press soon after Portishead became successful -- declines to be interviewed, but Webb seems happy to chat on the phone, having just recorded a performance for Jools Holland's late-night musical love-in Later. The relationship between Webb and Gibbons stretches back to her pre-Portishead days. They initially met when Webb was auditioning singers for his post-Talk Talk outfit O'Rang.

'I got a tape of her singing a Janis Joplin number,' he says, 'and I really liked her voice. But we were doing different stuff then; she was into songs, but I was going leftfield. We stayed in touch and remained friends, though, so when she had some time off we decided to have a go.' The collaboration began with them each working in their home studios -- she in Devon, he in Essex -- but once they started exchanging ideas they began to blur the boundaries.

'We were crossing each other's paths -- I delved into lyrics, she came up with some chords -- so it became an equal thing. We got about 20 loose ideas together and some just started exploring, building an atmosphere around the melody. We were just feeling our way through it.'

They came up with an intriguing musical landscape, with Gibbons's voice high in the mix, complemented by a mix of chamber instruments, choir, folk guitar, piano and -- on Tom The Model -- the distinctive woo-ee-oo of a Theremin. With a hint of pride, Webb notes it could have been recorded pretty much at any point in the past 40 years.

'It was an old-fashioned way of looking at music, with the melody as the most important thing. And as time goes on, you get more isolated. We stopped listening to the radio and other people's songs. You get more into yourself and into what you're doing.'

 

Webb's former band Talk Talk evolved at an astonishing rate. In 1982 they were New Romantic dilettantes, scoring a hit with Life's What You Make It in 1986, but by 1987 they had transformed into wiggy, free-jazz sonic pioneers. They took 14 months to record their fourth album, Spirit Of Eden, then announced to their record company, EMI, that there wouldn't be any singles and the record was too intricate to recreate on tour.

Webb left soon after and founded his exploratory outfit O'Rang. But he hasn't played live for years (not since Talk Talk played the Ahoy Hal club in Rotterdam in 1984), so a recent London date with his new project was a strange experience.

The group includes Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley and Webb's former Talk Talk bandmates Lee Harris and Simon Edwards, and Webb hasn't ruled out a nationwide tour.

'I feel like I'm having a crash course in it again, but it's one of the best groups I've played with. I think it helps that they're all friends of ours.' But he hasn't seen or spoken to Talk Talk singer Mark Hollis for years, although apparently he's still in contact with Webb's lawyer. The chances of a Talk Talk reunion seem slim.

'It's all best left in that place of time, really,' Webb sighs. 'I'm having fun now. I'm 40 years old and I feel very lucky to be able to do this.'

Perhaps Webb's awareness of growing older helped him find his Rustin' Man alter-ego, a name he borrowed from the first track that Gibbons and he actually finished -- a weirded-out, free-form organ toccata with walkie-talkie vocals that closes the album.

'There was a feeling of decay,' he says by way of explanation. 'There was a feeling that this thing might never come out, it's deteriorating.' He chuckles. 'I just kind of liked it in that sense.'

 

The album Out Of Season is released on October 28 on GoBeat. Beth Gibbons And Rustin' Man appear on Later ... With Jools Holland on BBC2 on October 27