Until the Ribbon Breaks

Until the Ribbon Breaks is a British band consisting of the frontman Pete Lawrie-Winfield (lead vocals, keyboards, programming, percussion, brass, guitar) and Elliot Wall (drums, programming, backing vocals). Sometimes abbreviated to UTRB, the band was founded in Cardiff, Wales in 2012 initially as Lawrie-Winfield's solo project and "blends genres like electronic, pop, rock, and hip-hop, but it’s all done with a sharp alternative edge."[1]

Until the Ribbon Breaks
Background information
Also known asUTRB
OriginCardiff, Wales
GenresElectronic, pop, rock, hip hop, alternative, avant-garde, R&B
Years active2012 (2012)–present
LabelsKobalt Label Services (KLS)
Associated actsRun the Jewels, London Grammar, Lorde, Ankit, Sam Smith, Phantogram, Delorean
Websitewww.untiltheribbonbreaks.com
Members
  • Peter Lawrie-Winfield
  • Elliot Wall
Past membersJames Gordon

History

2012: Founding

The group began as the solo project of Pete Lawrie Winfield, from Cardiff, Wales. Both his parents were musicians, and Winfield grew up to listening to artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John. Winfield went to school to study film, but found he preferred music after he started making soundtracks for his own movies.[2] He has stated, "Until The Ribbon Breaks started as a concept I had for one record. Ribbon being film or a cassette tape as the whole thing was based around this idea of the combination of music and film. At the time I made it I didn't know how far I was going to go with it."[2]

2013: Early releases

Stated Pitchfork Media on June 20, 2013, Until the Ribbon Breaks' early single "Pressure" "was written during a period when Winfield was sleeping on the floor of his studio with no concrete plan for his career."[3][4] For the music video Winfield combined scenes from David Lynch's 1997 thriller Lost Highway, stating, "Lost Highway seemed like the perfect match visually for the mood I was trying to convey...The film feels willfully claustrophobic and always on the verge of losing any sense of continuity."[4]

External video
Phantogram – "Fall In Love" (Until The Ribbon Breaks Re-imagination) (Apr 9, 2014)

With the track "2025," released in June 2013, Pitchfork writes that Winfield "manages to paint a starkly provocative picture of emotional decay, exhaling his vocals with a painfully resigned rasp circled by lurching drum machines, deflating synths, and industrial clanging. '2025' is a beautiful dirge, a bleak track kept barely afloat by an aching, human sadness."[3]

Winfield soon recruited James Gordon and Elliot Wall to join the band. To create their debut album, the band "buried themselves in a hidden studio space armed with just a film projector, a microphone, a drum machine, and a piano."[5] The band would project films without sound on the studio walls while working, with Winfield stating "I’d shut the sound off, watch the movies, and make music to them. It was everything from David Lynch to Terrence Malick.”[5]

The band finished their first tour of North America in 2013 in support of Lorde, and also finished a five-date tour across the United States with Phantogram that year.[5] Spin named the Until The Ribbon Breaks one of the Best 5 Artist of the Month for June 2013.[6] As of 2013 they have released remixes of The Weeknd's "Wicked Games," Sam Smith's "Nirvana," and Lorde's "Royals."[5] UTRB was featured on Run the Jewels' "Job Well Done" in 2013.[1]

2014: Recent projects

In 2014 the band also released a remix of "Sights" by London Grammar, also releasing a music video for the remix composed of cut up clips from films that inspired the re-imagination. Vogue called the remix "a starker, slimmer version of the original that transforms the spirit of it into something slightly more eerie."[7] In June 2014 the band performed at Electric Forest Festival in Michigan.[8] The band will open for London Grammar throughout January 2015,[7] after releasing their debut full-length album, A Lesson Unlearnt, in January 2015.

On 3 November 2015, it was announced through the band's Facebook page that member James Gordon would be leaving the band to focus on new ventures.[9]

On 26 January 2018 the band was featured on a video by the YouTube social experiment channel 'Yes Theory' regarding past alcoholism.[10]

On 23 February 2018, Until the Ribbon Breaks released its second studio album called “Until the Ribbon Breaks.”

Style
"Pete Lawrie Winfield's small catalog of original songs and remixes is almost uniformly marked by a palpable sense of restlessness and apocalyptic finality."[3]
— Pitchfork Media [3]

The band "blends genres like electronic, pop, rock, and hip-hop, but it’s all done with a sharp alternative edge,"[1] and Pitchfork Media has called UTRB "avant-R&B savants."[3] The band often writes music in front of a projector, with Winfield stating "For me, it just allows my mind to wander further than the confines of where it normally would. Silent moving images of nature, space, a busy street, whatever it maybe, take on a new sense of gravitas when soundtracked and vice versa. The music is given meaning by the image."[4] Winfield has also stated that, "Lyrics, to me, are the most essential part of writing music. I always start with the music, and depending on how I feel and what mood the music is conveying, that gives me an idea of what kind of thing I should be saying over it."[2]

Members
Current lineup
  • Pete Lawrie-Winfield – lead vocals, keys, programming, percussion, brass and guitar (2012–present)
  • Elliot Wall – drums, programming, backing vocals (2013–present)
Past members
  • James Gordon – keys, percussion, programming, backing vocals, bass (2013–2015)

Discography

Albums
  • A Lesson Unlearnt (2015)
  • Until the Ribbon Breaks (2018)

Singles
Selected songs by Until the Ribbon Breaks
Year Title Album Notes
2013 "Pressure" Promo single Music video
"2025"[3] Music video

Remixes

Soundtrack appearances

• Stalker – Their cover of Blondie's "One Way or Another" appears in the TV show Stalker with a darker and fitting tune for the episode.

• Greys Anatomy – In Season 10 Episode 10, their song "Romeo" plays in the dying minutes of the episode.

• The Magicians – In Season 3 Episode 13, their song "One Way or Another" plays in the last moments of the episode.

Guest appearances
Selected songs featuring Until the Ribbon Breaks
Year Single name Primary artist(s) Album Release details
2013 "Job Well Done" (ft. Until the Ribbon Breaks) Run the Jewels Run the JewelsFool's Gold, June 26, 2013
2016 "Seam by Seam" (ft. Until the Ribbon Breaks) Homeboy Sandman Kindness for WeaknessStones Throw Records, May 6, 2016

Further reading
Interviews
  • "Until the Ribbon Breaks, On Tape". Interview Magazine. 2013.
Discographies

References
  1. "Download the Latest Single From Until The Ribbon Breaks and Stream the New EP Now". Pigeons and Planes. March 24, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  2. Nakiska, Tempe (2013). "Until the Ribbon Breaks, On Tape". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  3. Bowman, Patrick (June 20, 2013). "Until the Ribbon Breaks "2025"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  4. Boilen, Bob (April 30, 2013). "Meet Until The Ribbon Breaks: Stark Music Paired With Enigmatic Images". NPR. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  5. "Until The Ribbon Breaks Bio". Windish Agency. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  6. "5 Best New Artists for June '13". Spin. June 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  7. Guiducci, Mark. "Until the Ribbon Breaks Remixes and Reimagines London Grammar's "Sights"". Vogue. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  8. "Electric Forest 2014 Lineup". Electric Forest Festival. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  9. "Hello friends. Last night was James'... - Until The Ribbon Breaks". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  10. "The Untold Story of a Rockstar". YouTube. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
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