After seven years of quiet anticipation since their last thrilling musical adventure, Ship, Yuka and Chronoship return with their fifth and most ambitious studio album yet, Ribbon Butterfly. Where Ship dazzled with its stunning blend of technical virtuosity and sweeping creative imagination, Ribbon Butterfly impressively evolves the band’s unique musical artistry and storytelling inventiveness several stages further.
You can, of course, simply hit ‘play’ and dive straight into the music. It’s fine if you do. However, you will be missing out on something truly special, which sets the listening experience in a much deeper and wonderfully fantastical context. My advice: head first to Freyja Dean’s beautifully crafted 34-page illustrated booklet, where you will be effortlessly transported into a graceful world of myth, imagination and wonder.
Producer and guitarist Shun Taguchi pens the enchanting tale of Risette, Polar Dark, Clair the pig, the Children of Yewtree (two crows), and Chronofish the flying fish. Together with Dean’s exquisite artwork, the pair introduce us to the narrative backdrop of vibrant images and poetic prose from which emerges the music of Ribbon Butterfly. Even before a note is played, the stage is elegantly set for an adventure where sound, story and visual artistry intertwine, dancing and playing together in creative wonder, and sparking the imagination for the music which is to follow.
And what a gloriously immersive journey it is. The opening title track Ribbon Butterfly (Track 1) is immediately dramatic and energetic. After the sound of blowing wind, expressive rippling arpeggios mirror the flight of a butterfly – graceful, delicate, and elegant. This tranquil mood is abruptly shattered with the unexpected intrusion of a crunching guitar, injecting an urgent sense of menace and threat. Turbulent winds swirl around the elegant keyboards, threatening to overwhelm and smother, before giving way to a discordant transition. Assuring piano arpeggios transform into flighty synthesiser riffs, evoking the sensation of being swept up in a storm, until the guitar returns with decisive, descending chords. The keyboard is left isolated and alone. From the depths of the soundscape, a floating chorus vocal tries to soothe and reassure, but soon, grumbling turbulence returns to carry us away on uncertain winds. A tumultuous crescendo brings the track to a fitting conclusion, leaving the lonely, echoed piano lost and isolated in an enveloping darkness – a profound metaphor for the adventure ahead.
What follows is a delightful change of pace and mood. Aunt Clairevoyance (Track 2) marks a return to the sea-ditty charm so characteristic of Ship, but here, the arrangement leans more toward the creation of a playful nursery rhyme-style experience. The mood is light and joyful, with a catchy refrain which quickly catches the ear and invites you to skip along with the beat. Children of Yewtree (Track 3) makes for a perfect transition, its heady guitar textures evoking the rustling of leaves in the trees while the crows wheel and circle above. The music conveys a whimsical energy, and the animated instrumentation continues to enhance the album’s sense of wonder, seamlessly carrying the listener further into its imaginative world.
The main theme of the story accelerates with Chronofish (Track 5). While the familiar arpeggios return, it is now the turn of the bass to claim centre-stage. Fabulous and exquisitely nimble, its tireless pulse supplies the momentum and imperiously drives both the music and the story forward. Liberated by this solid foundation, the sprightly keys weave intricate patterns against a choral backdrop, adding depth and texture. A staccato transition struggles to emerge, roiling with tension, until a beautiful, bluesy keyboard line breaks through – light and delicate, yet steadily building in confidence. Not to be outdone, the commanding bass returns to guide us toward the track’s conclusion, testament, indeed, to the inspired and dynamic interplay of the musicians.
Polar Dark (Track 6) ushers in a striking change of mood, embracing us with a brooding, shadowy atmosphere. The dancing keys of earlier tracks are gone, replaced by shimmering synths that stretch across the sonic horizon, setting the stage for this darker episode in our journey. Time seems to slow, every note burdened with a syrupy sense of weight and effort. The music evokes a feeling of frustrated urgency, the story itself struggling against unseen obstacles, searching for a way forward through the encroaching gloom.
Planetary Cleansing (Track 8) is a breathtaking rollercoaster, weaving together a series of interconnected musical segments with constant shifts in time, pace, mood and sound. Delicate passages of graceful tranquillity are interspersed with bustling, visceral outbursts of chaotic energy. The instruments seem to compete for dominance, each coming to the foreground before receding as the musical maelstrom turns in upon itself. Finally, the chaotic momentum exhausts itself.
A jaunty piano with a childlike verse opens Mummy and Daddy (Track 9), ushering in a mood that is dreamy, happy, and at peace at last. A wistful alto sax lingers on the gentle breeze and weaves in and out of the central vocal. Memory fades, the journey is done. Was it all a dream? Do All Human Beings Dream the Same Dream? (Track 10) leaves the answer for you to decide.
I used the word ‘fantastical’ at the beginning of this review, and I find myself drawn to it again now our journey is done. Ribbon Butterfly is a tantalising explosion of wonderfully crafted musical inventiveness. It aspires to lift us to new heights of immersive experience, blending intricate storytelling, vivid visual artistry, and richly textured soundscapes. In the process, we happily lose ourselves in dramatic worlds of imagination and musical originality. Crikey. It really is something a bit special.
TRACK LISTING
01. Ribbon Butterfly (9:14)
02. Aunt Clairvoyance (2:42)
03. Children Of Yewtree (5:05)
04. Hourglass Cove (6:51)
05. Chronofish (7:13)
06. Polar Dark (4:57)
07. Sleeping Girl In The Stained Glass (5:15)
08. Planetary Cleansing (7:25)
09. Mummy And Daddy (4:25)
10. Do All Human Beings Dream The Same Dream? (0:52)
Total Time – 53:58
MUSICIANS
Yuka Funakoshi – Piano, Keyboards, Programming, Vocal, Chorus
Shun Taguchi – Bass, Programming, Chorus, Guitar Solo (3) and 2nd Guitar Solo (8)
~ With:
Takashi Miyazawa – Guitar 1st Guitar Solo (8)
Sayaka Noguchi – Tenor Sax (2 & 8), Alto Sax (9)
Yoshitaka Shimazu – Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Takanri Tokutake – Mandolin (3)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records
Country of Origin: Japan
Date of Release: 2nd May 2025
Yuka & Chronoship – Website | Facebook | YouTube | X | Info at Cherry Red Records
