Virginia Wing’s Pale Burnt Lake is a cassette of bits and pieces that didn’t make their proper album Ecstatic Arrow, or that grew out of it. Live interludes, abstract sketches, spoken word, improvised soundtrack stuff. Synths drift around, Chris Duffin’s harmonised saxophone floats in and out, and Alice Merida Richards’ vocals sound half asleep on top of it all. Equal parts soothing and disorientating. If you liked the band’s previous work, this is a weirder, looser companion piece. If you haven’t heard them, start with Ecstatic Arrow first, then come back here.
The whole thing feels like a late-night radio session where nobody told the musicians what to play. “Pale Burnt Lake” the track is the most song-like thing here, a synth pop sketch with a hook. The rest is more scattered. “Flute Solo” is exactly that. “Glimmer Acid” is a short electronic blur. It’s not an easy listen, but it’s honest about being a collection of experiments. Fans of the Manchester scene, or anyone who likes their ambient music with a bit of human mess, will find something in it.
