{"title":"Virginia Wing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVirginia Wing is a band hailing from Manchester, UK. Comprised of Alice Merida Richards on vocals, bass, sampler, and synth; Sam Pillay on guitar, synth, and sampler; and Sebastian Truskolaski on drums. Known for their unique blend of cyclical repeato-rock, synthetically-manipulated shoegaze, and 90s-inspired hauntology. Their music possesses an innate ability to seemingly pause time and space while maintaining an uninterrupted stillness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by artists such as Broadcast and Stereolab, Virginia Wing's sound transcends the sedate school of dream-pop escapism. With their stylistic meditations applied amidst a sense of uninterrupted stillness, they create a captivating musical experience that captivates listeners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you enjoy the sounds of Bernice, U.S. Girls, Vanishing Twin or Ulrika Spacek among others - you will find yourself drawn to Virginia Wing's distinctive sound. Explore their discography today!\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ecstatic-arrow","title":"Ecstatic Arrow","description":"\u003cp\u003eTheir favourite records are the perfect counterbalance of the considered and the superficial. Whether it’s Madonna, Talking Heads or Holger Czukay - we enjoy these artists in the background with friends or profoundly and alone. Virginia Wing both understand and embrace this concept fully as they return with Ecstatic Arrow, an album which finds them in a place of renewed strength, optimism and clarity. Recorded in Switzerland, in the family home of longtime friend and collaborator Misha Hering within the domesticity and gentle routine of communal life, the album represents a world as predisposed to solemn introspection as it is to blithe conviviality. Ecstatic Arrow borrows from the heterogeneous terrain of The Flying Lizard’s Fourth Wall, the exuberant technology assisted pop of Yellow Magic Orchestra and the playful sophistication of Lizzy Mercier Descloux’s \u003ci\u003ePress Colour\u003c\/i\u003e, arriving at the evergreen intersection of pop music and conceptual art. The resolute opener of \u003ci\u003eBe Released\u003c\/i\u003e and album centre point The Female Genius pair resonant Fourth World instrumentation with sonorous, loping drum patterns. Elsewhere, the sentimental march of single \u003ci\u003eThe Second Shift\u003c\/i\u003e plays out like an after-hours ballad re-imagined by Wally Badarou and \u003ci\u003eFor Every Window There’s a Curtain \u003c\/i\u003eis coloured by the blue-lit haze of an Eventide warped tenor saxophone. Three albums in, the voice of Alice Merida Richards is more compelling and expressive than ever. The glacial deadpan of previous records has given way to a more candid, self-possessed delivery, showing an appreciation for the humour and tragedy innate in the downtown Arcadia of Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley or even Lynn Goldsmith’s Will Powers. It’s with this voice that Richards outlines a simple ideality that fortifies the entirety of \u003ci\u003eEcstatic Arrow\u003c\/i\u003e - inequality pervades, destructive behaviours are inherited and each subsequent generation has to reconcile the debts of its precursor - yet a space exists within ourselves and each other that houses a fact we must be reminded of - we have the ability to choose. Even in moments of frustration; the ascerbic eye-roll toward male entitlement, Glorious Idea or the world-weary \u003ci\u003eEight Hours Don’t Make a Day\u003c\/i\u003e, there persists a joy for living that refuses to be confined. A depiction of a group finally at ease with itself, Ecstatic Arrow is a tribute to the internal momentum that quietly guides us toward our destination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black vinyl LP, includes A3 poster, zine and Download.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ Limited Blue vinyl LP, includes A3 poster, zine and Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"LP.","offer_id":50402288927051,"sku":"1031151","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50402289058123,"sku":"1031150","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50402289254731,"sku":"1031152","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c8f81301-445b-4af6-a444-a1d8ca785d9d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726539253"},{"product_id":"rhonda","title":"Rhonda","description":"\u003cp\u003e*Update - Wild, Uncontrollable Fire Pricing for 2022 while stocks last*\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded at Hackney-based Holy Mountain Studios with Misha Hering, \u003ci\u003eRhonda\u003c\/i\u003e sees the band expand the deep and varied sonic palette displayed on their debut \u003ci\u003eMeasures Of Joy\u003c\/i\u003e. Featuring guest musician Koichi Yamanoha of Grimm Grimm, the single unfolds slowly as meditative incantations give way to a sprawling piece of experimental pop for the dance floor. The ambitious A-side flirts with disco beats and draws influence from a variety of schools of contemporary dance music whilst still remaining, at heart, a pop song. This is pop music with texture, depth and nuance; a daring and progressive piece. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe B-side includes two new tracks: \u003ci\u003eSisterly Love\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDaughter Of The Mind\u003c\/i\u003e which further hint at the deviations we can expect on their second LP. Field recordings, ambient mediations and rhythmic experimentation abound; the new material sees Virginia Wing refining and reworking the sound conjured on their debut, a masterful workout.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTracks: A1 Rhonda B1 Sisterly Love B2 Daughter of the Mind \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50441253749067,"sku":"1150912","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6ba925e5-4e40-4d0f-8427-2ed48a7c4d1d_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726975765"},{"product_id":"measures-of-joy","title":"Measures of Joy","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Measures Of Joy' is the debut album from South London based group Virginia Wing, released on Fire Records. The album is a work of psychedelic majesty that avoids the rockist trappings that many contemporary bands fall into; speaking to everyday anxiety and isolation and in contrast, seeking to evoke an inner world of pastoral fortification. The startlingly realised collection draws influence from the radiophonic sounds of Broadcast, the kosmische wonder of Cluster and the rhythmic propulsion of This Heat whilst never directly emulating any particular style. Building on the experimentations found on their 7\" on Critical Heights and a 12\" EP on Faux Discx, Measures Of Joy encompasses spoken-word passages, brooding electronics and musique concrete influences to create songs that are at once immediate and truly strange. From the metronomic pulse of \"World Contact\" and the avant-pop of 'Marnie' to the sonic experimentation of 'Gold Thread', 'Measures Of Joy' is a record that consistently surprises and ensnares; a collection of hallucinogenic pop-songs played with a sense of urgency and an experimental verve. Virginia Wing is Alice Merida Richards, Sam Pillay and Sebastian Truskolaski. The album was recorded at Holy Mountain Studios by Misha Hering.LP - With CD Version.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50492481372491,"sku":"381422","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e0668616-97db-40fa-8ee0-ddbe59a0f31e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727692295"},{"product_id":"forward-constant-motion","title":"Forward Constant Motion","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith many groups, a reduction in their personnel is often mirrored in a simplification of their sound. In Virginia Wing’s case, their reconfiguration from a trio to a two-piece sees them blossoming from the previously cold, Kosmische palette found on their debut LP \u003ci\u003eMeasures of Joy\u003c\/i\u003e into the wider-reaching, fully focused sound of \u003ci\u003eForward Constant Motion\u003c\/i\u003e. The album dives headlong into the synthetic waves that lapped around the edges of their initial work, drawing as much from the compressed thump of Homework-era Daft Punk as the languid new age-isms of Laurie Anderson to create a bold and inventive modern pop record. The album follows the groups Rhonda 12”, released for Record Store Day earlier this year. The three track record saw them collaborating with Koichi Yamanoha on the Hi-NRG meets plaintive strop of the title track, as well as showcasing their adeptness for skittering, dynamic drum programming. Virginia Wing’s strength is in taking recognised pop structures and unearthing the exit points within them. Case in point is lead-off single \u003ci\u003eGrapefruit\u003c\/i\u003e, which emerges from a cacophony of crackles and hums and drifts in and out of focus, even while clocking in at a lean sub-four minutes. \u003ci\u003eElsewhere, Miserable World\u003c\/i\u003e is far more rigid; with Richards’ vocals tied to its jutting, jerking movements. Standout-track, \u003ci\u003eHammer A Nail\u003c\/i\u003e abruptly taking off from powerful stomp to high-def escapism. Underpinning much of the record, though, is a sense of the dreamlike or otherworld, the album split up by short, drifting passages where structures melt away. It’s a key thematic point which, in-part, arose when Pillay developed Labyrinthitis (a disorder of the inner ear which results in vertigo and disorientation).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50494701830475,"sku":"1000646","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/fe297bf1-223d-45df-9447-2f3058c5103b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727707484"},{"product_id":"private-life","title":"private LIFE","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the year's most daring and true pop records, \u003ci\u003eprivate LIFE\u003c\/i\u003e comes as the result of Virginia Wing living through, and with, huge personal emotional and mental traumas. It is a document of how the very process of music creation in a group can be of huge therapeutic benefit to people. The three members of Virginia Wing have explored the depths of their creative and artistic inspirations within performance, production and composition, and have made a candid and brash pop record that speaks clearly about hope, desperation, impulse, addiction, urge and shame.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore tumultuous than its predecessor, \u003ci\u003eprivate LIFE\u003c\/i\u003e knocks hard. The evolution of Virginia Wing’s sound continues to build on the broad creative flow of the last album whilst being another audacious contribution to contemporary pop. The drums are huge and playfully unquantized. Edits are both assured and heavy handed, the instrumentation lightly mediates the two and finds itself on the edge of collapse alongside them. The icy facade of Merida Richards’ words are still front and centre, but are contrasted by dense, multilayered improvisations, vying for attention throughout the record. Over \u003ci\u003eI’m Holding Out For Something’s\u003c\/i\u003e relentless juggernaut of 90’s R’n’B beats, Richards examines the relentless hope and desperation glued to modern consciousness, and speaks of how we often find the answer, or the route through, right at the breaking point. Subsequently, \u003ci\u003eSt Francis Fountain\u003c\/i\u003e compounds the issue, observing that often our own coping mechanisms can grow into full blown traumas of their own. Virginia Wing’s last record opened its arms into euphoric light, \u003ci\u003eprivate LIFE \u003c\/i\u003einvites you through a door and closes it. It examines what we’re doing at night, on our own, after work. What we do to enjoy ourselves, to cope, to be together, to be alone. It shines a dim blue light on what might be happening, causing us anxiety, stress and desire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50509789233483,"sku":"1106027","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a3c852f9-41b7-4812-9de6-cbc70910fd91_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727868315"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_54dc4e83_thumbnail_4096_c44c7b07-263f-44eb-ba27-60cd2d6a32bd.jpg?v=1726539220","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/virginia-wing.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}