Over the course of their discography, London-based duo Virginia Wing have shown a dexterity for teasing a richness and warmth not always associated with psych-pop/motorik, Broadcast-style compositions, no less so than on 2016’s stellar Forward Constant Motion. Tracks like that album’s “ESP Offline” and “Grapefruit” were musically expansive and shot through with a sunlight and playfulness not always associated with an oeuvre more icy stare than wink.
With the announcement of a new long-player, Ecstatic Arrow, and sharing of album track, “The Second Shift”, this expansiveness continues. Opening along a sprightly, Ethio-jazz sounding saxophone melody and snappy rhythm not a million miles from ‘Dance Hall Days’(!), vocalist Alice Merida Richards sings of sharing the “key/hidden in my whole body”, while cosmic synths and almost raga sounds swirl in the background. It’s beautiful, and more than whet’s the appetite for Ecstatic Arrow, due June 8 from Fire Records and available for pre-order here. Virginia Wing will be on tour through February and March in the UK and EU with Hookworms – dates on their fbook.