Hugh’s “Learn to Fall” has a sense for drama — almost too much of a sense for drama. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to hear something like this in a 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack, or somewhere in a young adult dystopia (think CHVRCHES in the Hunger Games). But they don’t water it down enough; “Learn to Fall” is bolder than pianos and a synthpop hook.
Of course there’s a piano and a hook, though. Hugh plays it straight as far as the synthpop/balladeer handbook goes. Yet, they command the formula with their dramatic flair, pulling punches for a quiet intimacy before letting out all of those bottled-up emotions in a yin-and-yang of a minimalist and maximalist denouement.
The keys follow singer Izzy Brooks as electronics flush into the chorus. An R&B beat picks up the rhythm, tapping through the background as Brooks and her duet partner, Josh Idehen, play off each other’s verses. Idehen takes the tender side while Brooks infects the verses with a shy cry. Their drama pays off in the finale, when the keys flow into Brooks’s and Idehen’s overlapped voices and an electronic drone whirls in the background.