Album Review: Bibio - Ribbons

Was Bibio born ten years too early? Given the slower, sadder tone of recent success stories like Ocean Alley, were Stephen 'Bibio' Wilkinson’s Warp debut Ambivalence Avenue released today it might’ve been a breakout hit.

Now up to his tenth album, Wilkinson is still finding ways to keep his palette fresh. After the adventurous but sometimes hard to grasp drones and ghosts of 2017's Phantom Brickworks, Ribbons travels back through Bibio’s folk-pop roots. Featuring beautiful pastoral balladry, the sumptuous, somewhat nostalgic single Curls and The Art Of Living are good reflections of Wilkinson’s current headspace. He’s clearly grown into a more confident, some might even say competent, vocalist as there’s a surprising touch of Marvin Gaye (just a touch) to smoking gems Old Graffiti and his sedated almost vaporwave-ish take on ‘80s pop, Before.

Not as inspirational as his best work, Ribbons is occasionally a bit too smooth for its own good, Watch The Flies an example of Bibio at his glossiest. But it’s a work instantly recognisable as his own, with easy tunes and memorable acoustic licks. Surely that breakthrough to a wider audience is only a hit away?