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.
THE THREADTRACK LISTING
Gravity
The Thread
The Morning
The Kestrel
The Taking
Spellbound
Swipe
Red Flag
Wolf Moon
Glorious
New Moon Landing
Prelude In C
‘Wolf Moon’ / ‘The Thread’ single artwork credit: Brooke Shaden