Album Review: Until The Ribbon Breaks – “A Lesson Unlearnt”

By: Daniel Gerichter (@ZenDonut) –

On their debut album A Lesson Unlearnt, Cardiff, UK’s Until the Ribbon Breaks—a mélange of dance, pop, hip hop, and R&B sounds—step out of their background role for some of the industry’s budding stars, and into their own spotlight.

Lead by vocalist Pete Lawrie Winfield, Until the Ribbon Breaks have spent the years since their formation supporting and remixing artists like Sam Smith, The Weeknd, London Grammar (who they are currently touring with), and Phantogram.

Until the Ribbon Breaks put a strange energy into all their remixes, and that’s now palpable on A Lesson Unlearnt. It’s a simultaneous mixture of serenity and explosive energy; minimalist synths that evoke solitude interspersed with crashing, driving percussion. It’s a rare balance that only artists like The Postal Service have been truly able to master.

Throughout the album, Winfield’s influences are crystal clear: R&B, soul, the blues, hip-hop, and new wave. It’s an inviting mix. It’s also clear that Winfield feels no pressure to force too many of those influences into any one track. Consider the duality of tracks like “Orca” and “A Taste of Silver” being back to back. Both are love (or lovelorn) songs, and both are, in their own way, sexy as hell. But stylistically, they’re both very distant. “Orca” carries elements of Sade, and Stars with sweeping synths and low-pronounced, chanted lyrics (“Orca, orca, orca, there’s nothing quite/as black and white as you.”). Meanwhile, “A Taste of Silver” is a different beast altogether, with samples of a wild guitar solo, a churning beat and blaring horns. Top that off with sweeping falsettos and you’ve got almost the antithesis of its predecessor. Winfield’s lines are very clever here; he comes in with “When you’ve had a taste of silver/yeah the pennies won’t do.” Production-wise, there’s as much of Just Blaze as there is Stevie Wonder, and as a whole, imagine a Robin Thicke song that didn’t totally creep you out.

Until the Ribbon Breaks also use their wealth of connections to better the album. While they could have reached out to Sam Smith or others to return the favour, guests on A Lesson Unlearnt serve to further their cause, but are sparse all the same. On “Perspective,” MC Homeboy Sandman (of mega-label Stone’s Throw) chimes in with whispered vocals accompanied by more of Winfield’s falsettos. It’s got a very Maxinquaye-era Tricky vibe to it, but with a glossier, dance-floor sound. They intersperse all of this between a delightful sample from Nas’ Illmatic—another subtle nod to the group’s many influences.

And of course, there’s the album’s leadoff single, “Revolution Indifference.” With a trap beat and (mostly) gentle synths, each measure completes with the violent sound of a pistol cocking and then shooting. If ever there was a bridge to bebuilt between mid-nineties Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and say, Ben Gibbard, this is the track that accomplishes that with applause. Winfield’s vocals are once again subtle, but the lyrical content (“You know it/he knows it/baby it’s the end of time”) feels desperate and cornered. Of all the guests to welcome (and talk about timing), 2014’s hip-hop MVPs Run the Jewels make an appearance with about half a verse each. Killer Mike, for example, starts out rapping quietly and then (in typical fashion) explodes into much more aggressive hellfire. El-P is already in fifth gear when he takes over, offering a barrage of tongue twisters.

A Lesson Unlearnt, is a superb album, entirely because of its duality. On one hand, it feels like energy the band needed to release for quite a while. On the other hand, they show tremendous restraint. This album is focused, emotive, energetic, and groovy as hell. There’s hardly a filler track to be found, and it will be very interesting to see how this all plays live. Here’s hoping artists like Phantogram and Sam Smith have other remixers in their contact list, because it seems like Until the Ribbon Breaks have fully realized their calling.

Essential Tracks: “A Taste of Silver”, “Revolution Indifference (feat. Run the Jewels)”, “Perspective (feat. Homeboy Sandman)”