Virgins
Virgins are one of the most exciting bands to come out of Ireland in recent times. A Belfast based shoegaze band that have quickly established themselves as a live force and a rising name locally, nationally and internationally, selling records all over the globe.
Following on from the sold-out pressing (200) of EP ‘Transmit a Little Heaven’ and recent singles ‘s l o w l y, l o n g’ and 's o f t e r' the band’s debut album ‘Nothing Hurt and Everything Was Beautiful’ is due out April 2024 through Blowtorch Records on a pressing of 300.
Currently the band have over 56K streams on Spotify alone, a healthy and active social media presence with plans to tour UK (November) and Ireland (June and August) in 2024, along with festival appearances being lined up. The profile of the band continues to grow and they have a substantial and dedicated fanbase amongst the shoegaze community.
They recently released a new, much anticipated single, the momentous 's o f t e r', already a live fan favourite. A shoegaze tour de force built around a looping lead riff and the ethereal yearning vocals of Rebecca Dow. Gargantuan walls of dense, beautiful reverbs and dreamy fuzz, transport the listener to a world of abstract beauty and bliss. Michael Smyth and David Sloan’s guitar complement each other perfectly, adding layers of shimmering choral accents, glide guitar trem-arm rhythms, reverse reverbs and lush jet plane phaser sounds. All driven by James Foy's thunderous drums and anchored by gloriously fuzzed out bass of Brendy McCann. While basking in this audio bath, Rebeccas vocals offer a guide point to navigate through the hazy requiem.
The releases have received considerable media and radio coverage; Dan Hegarty, BBC Across The Line, John Baker, Nova Radio and shoegaze radio station DKFM championed the band along with The Last Mixed Tape, Nialler 9, Hot Press, Chordblossom, Golden Plec, The Thin Air, Dig With It and Japan based Portal Zine all showing appreciation. The EP made its way into various end of year lists including Chordblossom’s Top 25 albums and Top 50 songs, Shoegaze Blog Top 20 releases of 2022 and Destroy/Exists Top 10 Ep’s of the year. As well as the Irish Times heralding Virgins as ones to watch in 2024 and Louder highlighting the band as one of the Top 10 Irish Acts you should be listening to in 2024.
The band spent 2022/23 gigging relentlessly including a 6 date headline UK tour in November 2022 and a short Irish tour in April 2023. This led to slots at the Button Factory, Dublin (550 cap), Set Theatre, Kilkenny (400 cap) and headline slots at GazeFest in both Belfast and Dublin. The band supported Bleach Lab, Bdrmm and Sign Crushes Motorist on their Irish tours.
Debut album ‘Nothing Hurt and Everything Was Beautiful’ will be released on starburst vinyl (pressing of 300) via Blowtorch Records in April 2024. The album finds the band exploring a wider sonic palette, seamlessly moving between the gaze-pop of ‘slowly, long’ and ‘disappearer’, to the dance influenced ‘softer’ and to the heavy, expansive and ethereal ‘pale fire’ and ‘tend’. Their captivating sound doesn’t rely on recycling shoegaze tropes but brings a fresh and contemporary approach to the genre.
PRESS
‘All encompassing dream pop sound’
- The Last Mixed Tape -
‘Virgins come correct with hooky gaze-pop’
- Nialler 9 -
‘Shimmers and glistens’
- Hot Press -
‘Deafening dream pop’
- Shoegaze Blog -
FOR FANS OF
Nothing, Slow Crush, My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice, Slowdive, Bdrmm, Deaf Heaven, Loathe, Holy Fawn
