After the release of their debut double single last May. Virgin Orchestra returns with “Rewind” the third single off their upcoming album “Fragments”.
Virgin Orchestra is an experimental post-punk band based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The band consists of Stefanía Pálsdóttir on vocals, bass, synth, and beats, Starri Holm on guitar, and Rún Árnadóttir on cello. The trio met at the Icelandic University of the Arts where they were students in the music department. Their influences range from classical composers like Dmitri Shostakovich to punk bands such as The Cure and the shoegaze/experimental rock band My Bloody Valentine. That gives them their own unique experimental sound mixing post-punk with electronics and shoegaze with a classical touch created by the cello.
“Rewind” is a 7-minute song that has a Gothic and warm vibe to it based on a deep bass synth accompanied by a reverbed drum machine filling the background while creating space for the band to experiment with their instruments. Starting with guitar screeches, the song gradually morphs into a melodic bass line and inverted picked guitar chord duet before the first verse. Where gloomy vocals come in backed by simple lead guitar. The cello takes the spotlight during the music interludes adding an emotional texture to the ambiance. As the song reaches the halfway point it switches into a more instrumental ambient approach that’s described by the band as “a dreamscape of how one wishes they can rewind back to “before” everything”.