This review was commissioned. However, it bears no weight on the score or decision. All reviews are written from an unbiased standpoint.
It seems as if Virgin Birth have been busy little bees since last I spoke of them. 2023 saw the release of ‘The Forest’ and our review of it; we received the raw industrial synths quite well, giving their debut a solid 7.5 out of 10. Following up came a three-track EP which slipped off my radar “From Behind” and moving forward into 2024 we see the band’s single ‘Break Down The Air’. And I’m glad to say that they haven’t lost their touch.
‘Break Down The Air’ is inspired by a nuclear winter; their inspiration comes from the 1984 British culture shock movie Threads. I, instead, thought of the video game Wasteland 3 which sees you roaming a post-nuclear Colorado. Onto the song, then.
A few oddball noises and the ticking of a cymbal lead us into the track which paves way with a wobbly synth line and a driving underscore of bass. Clean vocals, almost whispered, permeate through the track in rhythmic fashion; a sentence said, a beat unraveled. Minor electronic riffs in between keeping a solid industrial feel throughout. The song gets loud around the two-and-a-half minute mark thanks to some elevated guitars and heavier notes. And this is where my only complaint lies; I think if we had more of what was in the last thirty-seconds throughout the track it would have been much more dynamic. Alas, I have to take what I can get.
The duo behind this project, Phillip Olympia and Jake Miller are pretty damn good at what they do and I feel as if this single is slightly better in production, but I can’t really raise the bar higher as I was hoping for a bit more from it. Especially after hearing what they did in those final moments. Excellent crescendo that was way too short for how good it was. Still, good beats, good song, good guys.
