I was lucky enough to catch Virgin Orchestra live a few weeks ago in Reykjavik. They filled up the small room that normally serves as the retail space for the Smekkleysa (Bad Taste) record label, leaving me confined to a peek-a-boo view from the stairs. But I’m not complaining because that meant I got to be there to experience their sonic density, waves of deep sound filling the room like an ocean of bass and synths.
I enjoyed their 2023 debut, Fragments, so I was pleased to get my hands on a copy of their new six-song EP Let It Burn. And it didn’t disappoint.
The foundation of Virgin Orchestra’s sound is deeply rooted into the bedrock of post-punk, but with a few generations of evolution. Elements of shoegaze meld with neoclassical and even hints of surf (see “Undertow”), combining to produce a kind of David Lynch-ian fever dream soundtrack, creating an emotional connection at the very root of our conscious experience. The music is lush, covering you like thick velvet and protecting you from the icy cold of the world, keeping the light out and putting you back into the womb. It all comes together perfectly on “Banger”, a track that pushes the vocals forward and gives them expressive space. There’s also an experimental element at play here – Virgin Orchestra aren’t simply creating paint-by-number tracks, but instead exploring combinations of sounds and effects as can be heard on “The Pathetic Song”, the slowed-down approach mirroring that slight out-of-time feeling you get when you’ve been awake way too long and even normal things don’t quite make sense any more.
Let It Burn is available on the various streaming services. You can also check it out on the Virgin Orchestra Bandcamp HERE. As for the vinyl, well you’ll have to track that down elsewhere. You can order directly through Smekkleysa HERE, and it looks like you might be able to grab it on Amazon as well. It’s well worth a listen.