This is the third album from Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, the duo from Norwich who first met in primary school and have been making music together since they were kids. Descriptions of their sound range from the prosaic art-pop to the rather more exciting sounding experimental sludge pop. This album feels like it falls into the latter category.
"Happy New Year" instantly makes you feel that you should be on a dance floor, it’s an explosion of sound. A beautiful ode to the evolution of the band’s long standing friendship. It evokes all those feelings of goodwill to the people around you that the title would suggest. Levitation continues this pace, the lead vocal feels very like early Elastica, although there is no sonic similarity.
"Watching You Go" written in the aftermath of the death of Jenny Hollingworth’s boyfriend is as melancholy as you’d expect but where I thought it might sound delicate there is a harder edge to it and you can feel the will to survive a catastrophic event coming through in both the vocal and the hopeful sound of the song.
"Hall of Mirrors" is a classic dance track with a touch of Florence and the Machine about it which brings the mood of the album right back up. Insect Loop starts as very standard synth pop and seems to meander into something euphoric without you really realising how it happened. A really interesting track. Sunday brings the pace right down, it’s a slow, gentle love song. "Strange Conversations" is surprisingly stripped back, with the focus on the vocals and a guitar, it continues the laid back pace and segues perfectly into title track "Two Ribbons" which closes the album in the same style.
It’s an album that explores relationships, both intense friendships and romantic ones and how we deal with their evolution or ending. There is a clear shift from their previous albums to more tracks with each of them taking a solo lead vocal. It works well and makes you appreciate the times the vocals weave together in a different way. There are some beautiful lyrics and though there are obvious stand out tracks, the album feels delicately stitched together to create a complete sonic experience. My preference is for the first half of the album which has a significantly higher tempo than the second, but if you like introspection with a sonic backdrop that can surprise you, regardless of pace, you’ll definitely enjoy this album.
Top Tracks: "Happy New Year", "Hall of Mirrors", and "Insect Loop"
Rating - 3/5
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