Until the Ribbon Breaks
A Lesson Unlearnt
KOBALT/1405
4/10
A Lesson Unlearnt, the debut album from Until the Ribbon Breaks, provides a few glimpses of what to like about the English trio, but due to its flimsy lyrics and lack of cohesion, the album doesn’t stand up on its own. The LP’s production is genuinely sparse and, occasionally, gorgeously haunting—“Persia” has a wonderfully sullen tone, and the breathy vocals sit nicely in a hazy, confused tale of love lost—but there isn’t much to hold onto once the album has finished. Unlearnt’s repetitive vocal hushes practically pen themselves, and the album’s melodies aren’t able to properly stretch and yearn (“Spark,” “Goldfish”); there just isn’t that ability to truly burst through into something special. Consequently, with repeated plays, the colors quickly fade and the band’s minimalism turns into a dull listen. A Lesson Unlearnt attempts to be sleek and seductive, but as a whole, this is a background album when it could have been front-and-center.
