Don’t let their youth fool you: local alt-pop rockers VIRT possess all the musical prowess of most bands twice their age.
Dexterous and effervescent, their track J.A.S thunders out of the gates on a melodic high. The unrelenting positivity of it reminds the listener of something ripped from an anime score. All crisp and clean guitars and pop-punky rhythm beats as a keyboard lays down the foundation, the song is injected with a frenetic energy which crescendos almost instantly.
Despite the jubilant tone being set straight off the bat, a peek at the lyrics might surprise with its morose subject matter. Shades of mid-2000s emo can be lifted from them, with lines such as “Gliding toward the light / this is the moment your pain [is] over” suggesting parallels to death, the afterlife, and the relief of letting go.
However, vocalist Harley’s silky smooth delivery turns the somber into a celebration. There is a playful push and pull between lyrical darkness and aural optimism, the end result a coalescence of what can perfectly be described as (in VIRT’s own words) “an undefined genre with a refined sound”.
Check out VIRT on YouTube, Spotify or AppleMusic.
By Jasmine Gould Wilsion
