The world has seemingly been besieged by bearded bands in the past year - but most of those kids treading on their fifth style of music wear it like a badge and far from an integral part of their work. When you hear Virgin Passages and their folkish strum intersecting with psychedelic experimentation and swirl of boy/girl harmonies and chanted refrains, you just know what they will look like. The men (and they will be men – no boys making music with this many layers) will have beards almost by default. How could they spend time shaving and choosing just the right shirt when the creative urge is overwhelming inside them? Those waking hours will always go back into the music. The women (life experience required) with have lovely long hair that ends in little tangles and long skirts and sleepy dark eyes that command your attention for an uncomfortable period as you stand transfixed in the middle of the room. It’s a dark beauty through and through. It must be this way. Likened to early Animal Collective, due to the tribal nature and acoustic direction, the group also showcases a great deal of sunken melody in the vein of early Spiritualized or Mercury Rev. Yet even more so than any of those groups, Virgin Passages takes you to a more isolated place. Outside the closed tavern and walking through a deserted field hours past when anyone should be about. We have all taken that walk at some point in our lives and can recall that feeling of dark possibilities lurking in the heavy corners of our eyes. Only broken by a low hanging red moon in its infinite beauty staring down at us, or a haze of fireflies sheltering our fragile souls from the world around. Its music to be alone with, while a thousand others stand in the same field - isolated - by your side.