Until The Ribbon Breaks Releases Third Studio Album 'VISITOR'

Critically acclaimed multi-medium artist, musician, and producer Until The Ribbon Breaks has released his most striking body of work to date. An exquisite 10-track album inspired by and medicine for the human condition; VISITOR (VERO Music), is a compelling, deeply soulful sonic renaissance that shows the Wales-born/L.A.-based artist reaching a brilliant new watershed moment of creativity and emotional honesty. The album completes the musical trinity of the extraordinary previous collections A Lesson Unlearnt (2015) and Until the Ribbon Breaks (2018).

Speaking about the personal importance of the album, Until The Ribbon Breaks' Pete Lawrie Winfield reveals, "Of all of the three full length Until The Ribbon Breaks records, this one means the most. The only body of work I have made sober and perhaps as a result - the most collaborative. I made a rule with myself this time, it had to be a return to making music simply for the joy of it, be rigorously honest in the writing and to travel far and wide to find the people who could lend their magic to music. I'm so proud of this body of work and the memories it made. Whether it was recording a rattlesnake in Joshua tree, or traveling to Bogota, Nashville and Mexico city to record and work with incredible people and artists, there were so many reminders along the way of why I needed to do this again and why I still do. In the last few years, I think for everyone, It's been such a confusing, strange and often maddening time to be a visitor on this rock we share and I found myself wanting to write about my experience of that, but also about the little pockets of hope and forgiveness that the difficult times encourage. I'm so happy to let this one go and see where it ends up and all the other visitors that it finds along the way."

Accompanying his latest studio release is an official self-directed music video for focus track HUMAN, one of most emotionally resonant tracks on VISITOR. Underlined by insinuating percussion and infectious layers of keyboards, the song delves into what the artist calls "a world that sometimes feels hell bent on being a river of revenge and punishment and shame."

He continues, "The first verse is like a literal story of the second you are born. Within in the grand scheme of existence - and within minutes - you're expected to be someone who has answers and knows what they want to do. I wanted to say that life is hard enough. Can we just pretend for a second that we don't have to do all of that? It's about joyful nihilism." Watch the official music video for "HUMAN" HERE.

Despite the undeniable growth displayed across the set's 10 extraordinary songs, Winfield proudly describes VISITOR as a "full-circle moment." After two critically acclaimed albums, Pete Lawrie Winfield aka Until The Ribbon Breaks appeared to be done with his musical brainchild. The darkness of mental health issues triggered by addiction and anxiety had sent him crashing against the proverbial wall. It was over.

It was during the era of his self-titled second album that Winfield began to face the fact that he had become dependent on alcohol and drugs. Despite personal turmoil, the album was a critical success, and it spawned the hit alt-pop single "Here Comes the Feeling." Winfield set forth on a journey of sobriety and healing. "For me, it was game-over," Winfield says. "I was done with making records."

But the advent of COVID and renewed creative clarity inspired a new wave of musical creation. Songs started to take the form of VISITOR, a collection that traces his recovery, as well as his philosophical view of the world around him. The best of evidence of this new direction can be found in "Everything Else but Rain," featuring harmonies by alt-pop doyennes Lucius. Aside from being the first song written for the album, it is a rare foray into themes of joy and ultimate forgiveness for the typically dark and cynical Winfield. "It was a huge surprise to me that it came out as it did," he says. "It wound up informing the rest of the album in a variety of ways." What follows is an intensely personal and revealing exploration into the making of VISITOR, and the ways that each song says about Winfield's growth as a human being.

The rest of 2023 saw the impact of several equally well-received singles, starting with the moody and atmospheric "Red Skies," which paired Winfield with rising Colombian pop siren La Pardo. The two soon reunited for a hypnotically percussive re-imagination of the song, retitled "Cielos Rojos." Autumn brought the anthemic "Nature Mother," featuring Nashville singer/songwriter Emoni Wilkins. "Strange TImes" and "Carousel" followed in the Spring, the latter featuring critically acclaimed rapper, Homeboy Sandman.

Adding to his momentum, Winfield recently teased material from VISITOR during a performance at this year's hugely influential SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX. "Playing SXSW was an incredibly special experience in a multitude of ways," Winfield says. "Not only was it my first show in 5 years, but it was also my first show ever playing sober. To finally be present and share my art - and to not have that voice of doubt in my head was magnificent. It was so satisfying to just take my hands off the wheel and allow things to unfold as they may."

In the days leading up to the release of VISITOR, Until The Ribbon Breaks took to the Dreamland Stage in Margate, England, and debuted several tracks from the album for an enthusiastic crowd of over 5,000 for the Margate Summer Series. The prestigious event featured performances by headliners - drum'n'bass legends Rudimental - with ShyFX, Charlotte Plank and others. It was the perfect prelude to VISITOR, and a new era for Until the Ribbon breaks.

'VISITOR' TRACKLISTING

For The Birds
Carousel (with Homeboy Sandman)
Strange Times
Red Skies (with La Pardo)
Nature Mother (with Emoni Wilkins)
HUMAN
I Was Wrong
Back From The Blue (with Emoni Wilkins)
Hellofazoo
Everything Else But Rain (with Lucius)

To post a comment, you must register and login.