UK shoegazer The Virgance has released ‘Paradigm 3’, his third LP in a little over 18 months, on the El Vals del Conejo label.
‘Paradigm 3’ builds on the momentum gained from these first two releases, serving up a fresh cerebral road trip for shoegaze and post-rock fans to absorb. This is perhaps the most balanced Virgance release so far, embracing the more emotional aspects of shoegaze while retaining some experimental rock attributes, as well as the aesthetics of both beautiful noise and ambient music. Nathan Smith’s distinctive, swirling guitar sound is at the forefront, in harmony, on all but one of these eight tracks, with synthesized, ethereal female vocal sounds and some of his most advanced drum work to date. Shauna McLarnon of celebrated dreampop duo Ummagma contributes some of these vocals, which meld into the texture of the first single ‘Down The River’.
The Virgance is Nathan Smith, formerly guitarist with nineties UK indie band Ripley, which saw BBC Radio 1 and MTV Europe airplay, and co-producer of noughties electronica outfit Loveless. Smith’s first solo LP as The Virgance was ‘Lost Continent’, which was released in February 2014, followed by the ‘Hiko Shrine’ LP in January 2015. Both received critical acclaim in the shoegaze community and blogosphere.
The new album is available from their Bandcamp page as a digital download and limited edition CD: https://thevirgance.bandcamp.com/
‘Paradigm 3’ Tracklisting:
1. 25 Years
2. Epiphony
3. Sequester
4. Moonolog
5. Saturnine
6. Down The River
7. Dissipate
8. No Return
Rock And Roll Creations 
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