Virginia MacNaughton releases new double A-side ‘Wolf Moon’ / ‘The Thread’

Critically acclaimed singer and songwriter Virginia MacNaughton has released the new double A-side of ‘Wolf Moon’ and ‘The Thread’, giving an extended taste of the forthcoming album The Thread out February 27th.

Virginia started work on her upcoming third album in October 2020, after the end of a brief encounter which had such a profound impact. After a few short weeks of ‘romance’, cruelly rejected and devastated by the experience and with a need to chart the journey, she sat at the piano and the first song was already there.

The album was announced with lead single and album opener ‘Gravity’ in October 2025, and the bright majestic song introduced the power and pull of the ultimately doomed encounter. The new single and title track ‘The Thread’ follows, marked by Felix Burling’s haunting flugelhorn, and is about the persuasiveness of that connection, the sense of her new lover imbuing everything.

‘Wolf Moon’ marks a turning point with its jazzy feel as the connection loosens, and the healing begins.

The forthcoming album was written and arranged by Virginia alongside platinum-selling producer William Jackson (The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs, Kaiser Chiefs) at Eiger Studios, Leeds.

By 2021 The Thread was nearly finished, but before the album was complete, life intervened. Virginia’s beloved father died, and then, after four and a half glorious years together, she lost her wife who died in the spring of 2025.

The Thread now resumes its journey and is released in February 2026. “I had to complete the circle,” says Virginia. “The Bach prelude at the end of the album marks the memory of my dad – a piece he played all his life, Bach was his great love, and he taught me to play the prelude as a child.” The photograph on the album cover is of Virginia aged two, with her Dad and sister. He passed down to her a love of melody and musical knowledge – a well of experience she drew from to create this album about moving from destructive obsession to enduring love.

For a record shrouded by such immense heartache, by contrast it is sonically immensely uplifting as The Thread plays out a true reflection of the turbulent emotive experience of life. It encapsulates our uncontrollable urges, the carefree will to wholeheartedly follow joy, the resilience to withstand unfathomable trauma and the long winding road to recovery and healing.

THE THREAD TRACK LISTING

1. Gravity
2. The Thread
3. The Morning
4. The Kestrel
5. The Taking
6. Spellbound
7. Swipe
8. Red Flag
9. Wolf Moon
10. Glorious
11. New Moon Landing
12. Prelude In C

FURTHER INFORMATION ON VIRGINIA MACNAUGHTON
Virginia MacNaughton released her debut album The Music in 1996 following a chance meeting with Pete Brown (Cream) and bassist, John Michael MacKenzie. Early recordings with Cameron Jenkins (Everything But The Girl, Badly Drawn Boy, Lana Del Rey) led to a full album, produced by Phil Saatchi featuring string arrangements by Oscar-winning composer and Art of Noise founder, Anne Dudley and recorded at AIR studios, London. The album introduced the breadth and scope of Virginia’s art and influences, pulling together pop, rock, folk and classical orchestration to dramatic effect.

The following album Levers, Pulleys and Engines pushed things further with enhanced arrangements and production by the platinum-selling, award-winning William Jackson (The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs, Kaiser Chiefs) at Eiger Studios, Leeds. The album was released in 2003 to a raft of critical praise from the likes of MOJO, Uncut, Classic Rock, The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Independent and many more alongside radio support from BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.

Virginia MacNaughton and William Jackson have joined forces once again on the forthcoming album The Thread out February 27^th 2026. The third album from Virginia MacNaughton is her most personal and heartfelt yet, tracking the journey of a doomed encounter and the salvation of true love, written and recorded during a process of healing at Eiger Studios, while being released in homage and memory of those she has lost.