Virgin Orchestra – Let It Burn (2025)

Virgin Orchestra – Let It Burn (2025)

An excellent band that appeared in 2025!

Virgin Orchestra has officially entered the music world. And what a successful debut!

There are bands that I immediately fall in love with. It doesn’t matter if people call them copies, unoriginal or anything else derogatory. I often follow my heart. And if an album makes me take off, fly away, transport me to another world… that’s good enough for me!

The music is excellent, as is the vocals. There are only six songs and the whole thing lasts just 28 minutes. The trio has written seven other songs outside of this EP.

Stefanía Pálsdóttir, Starri Holm and Rún Árnadóttir form this experimental and angelic post-punk band based in Reykjavík. They first met while studying at the music department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Three different musicians, but who share the same ideas. Their arrangements and harmonies are amazing.

It’s funny, because I’m not a fan of many musicians from Iceland, as there doesn’t seem to be much punk rock, alternative or indie music over there. But Virgin Orchestra’s post-punk is one of my favourites! There’s also a very nice mix of classical and modern here, with all these stringed instruments.

In fact, I only (or mainly) loved the Icelandic bands that Björk was in, namely Kukl, Tappi Tíkarrass and, above all, The Sugarcubes. I also really like Kaktus Einarsson and had the opportunity to meet him… without knowing that he was (according to what he and his brother told me) the son of Einar Örn Benediktsson, who was in Kukl and Sugarcubes! Crazy!!!

Kaktus is best known in Iceland for his band Fufanu. He is a big fan of OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark), who have greatly influenced him.

Back to this EP: the cover is quite unusual, but very artistic. We see the faces of two young women, but not in full. We can see their hair, eyes and noses, but not their mouths. The one on the left seems to be kissing the one on the right. But we don’t know if it’s on the lips or on the cheek. The one on the left has her eyes closed as if to fully enjoy a passionate kiss, while the one on the right has her eyes half open, as if she were unsure, not fully committed, unconvinced of what is happening. There is ambiguity, because we don’t know if she is also going to close her eyes, react with rejection or daydream while she is being kissed.

As fans of the 70s and 80s, the band’s name inevitably makes me think of Virgin Prunes and, indeed, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). But these three bands have nothing else in common, at least not at first glance.

I wish this trio, which is sure to become one of my favourite bands of the 2020s… and probably beyond, many albums, concerts and a wonderful musical life!