No one makes minimalist, electronic R&B quite like RITUAL. It’s a genre they’ve mastered over the years, making use of electronic beats, longing guitars and keyed up pauses for their production perfect tracks. The London outfit’s latest offering is ‘Drown The Lovers’, as subtle weave of trap, guitar, vocal samples, R&B vocals and guest verses from 6LACK (you might remember RITUAL’s cover of the Atlanta talent’s ‘Loyal’). From the quietly dramatic opening, you’ll find yourself wading deeper into the beat-laden landscape that RITUAL set before you. Already swimming comfortably, 6LACK effortlessly relays his romantic history and the bruises that remain, while the female voice acts as conscience, repeating “let them drown.” It would be a rather unchallenged argument to suggest that this remix (yes, remix!) is better than RITUAL’s original, released earlier this year. This rework of ‘Drown The Lovers’ shows that RITUAL is a group unafraid of change, of reinvention, of pushing their own creations further. - HT