The Visual and Visceral Snow by Virgin Blood
Virgin Blood is a moniker for artist Felisha Ledesma, and she performs Wednesday at Turn Turn Turn, alongside The Dead White, as part of Creative Music Guild’s Outset Series. Her most recent album, Snow, was released in February 2014, which has been called “cathartic and minimal.”
Snow begins with contradictory energy as it cuts in with a steady heartbeat; its blood is already warm and rising. Eerie, echoing vocals stretch and draw out, over a percussive foundation, with wavering intensity. The energy spike doesn’t temper until after “Glass,” a dark and easily beloved piece on the album which lends its visuals to my inspiration.
Immediately following is “Lydia,” a slow, nonabrasive, siren-like lull. If the song were a room, it would be tiled, and dense with steam. Vocals are a layered dreamscape, the song gets more intricate as it progresses. Percussion takes precedence for its entirety, providing necessary distinction between the blurriness of the synth and its own clear sound.
The album is meditative lightness with transitional visions actualized in tracks like “Running” and “Cabin” — yet the sound is pregnant with the dark aberration of a separate paganism. My only regret for the album: its length. I’m sure I looped “Glass” at least 20 times. My irritation when its over outlasts my withdrawal from the album, hours later. I’ll be there Wednesday, hungry for more, anxious to see exactly what season Ledesma animates nearly two years post Snow.
