A lot can happen in 5 years – as Irish shoegaze mainstays Virgins are here to remind us. The band’s second and final EP ‘Light The Space Left Behind’ carries the tall order of cementing a meaningful legacy in local music. Renowned for their dynamic performances and steadfast devotion to a beloved alternative sub-genre, this final collection of material may not be remembered as their most vital work, but across these three swan songs Virgins double down on their strongest suits.
Lead single ‘Crucible’ opens the record, driven by a rolling bassline with undeniable weight atop a thin, restless drum groove. The vocals sit farther-than-far back in the mix, drenched in swampy, idiomatic reverb – a familiar hallmark of the band’s sound, despite my occasional want for something a tad more immediate. That being said, the melodies are longing, perhaps wistful, and while I personally think this is the sound of a band saving the best for last, ’Crucible’ establishes a groove and does not stray from the path.
‘Passing’ immediately injects a stronger melodic focus and feels like the most fully realised effort of the three. This is Virgins squarely in their comfort zone, soaring over a track that feels guided out of the annals of Irish dream- pop by the glow of twenty to thirty guitar effects units. A small smattering of rigid, choppy fills occasionally distract from the song’s core momentum, but ultimately ‘Passing’ is earnest and stately, propelled by a titanic groove and hooks with genuine staying power.
With a title like ‘Reveries’, the closing track signals reflection, and it delivers the necessary catharsis both emotionally and musically. The tension built throughout the prior songs’ strict, disciplined rhythms finally dissolves just after the four-minute mark in a fevered, expansive release. Here, the band truly lets loose, in the grandiose floods of swelling reverb we’ve all been waiting for. ‘Reveries’ is a somber death knell for a beloved musical outlet, and in the dregs of the tracks’ warbling ambient guitar ending we find as ideal an end to this story as we could’ve hoped for.
Gone but certainly not to be forgotten, Virgins ‘Light The Space Left Behind’ feels like a graceful farewell – one that gradually exhales and settles into itself. Virgins leave behind a body of work that will hopefully continue to resonate, even as they step away. As founding guitarist Michael quipped, he “can’t stay a virgin forever – not even Mary could.”
