REVIEW OF THE NEW “ISLANDS ” ALBUM “ISLOMANIA”

 

 

 

ISLOMANIA IS OUT JUNE 11TH ON MOUNTAIN RECORDS ORDER HERE

 

To be honest I wasn’t familiar with Islands until recently, I know the main protagonist Nick Thorburn was in the Unicorns, and Nick and Unicorns drummer, Jamie Thompson, formed Islands after the demise of Unicorns.

My research tells me in 2016 after 7 albums and the release of the Islands albums Should I Remain Here, At Sea? and Taste, Nick secretly retired from Islands and music altogether. But Nick Thorburn’s was still a busy man. He’s scored a feature film, wrote, and directed his own comedy short, starring Tim Heidecker and Michael Cera, and put together his own graphic novel.

 

 

But after years of writer’s block, some session work inspired him to get back into song writing as Islands: “I picked up the bass and thought, ‘This feels so fucking good,’ and I just got bit again. This shit is a bad penny, man. I can’t shake it.” And that resulted in the Islands first release in nearly five years. ISLOMANIA

The album kicks off with the title track, Islomania… bongos, synths, and strings before that is stripped away and the track slips into a very retro-indie feel.

“We do it with the light on” follows and adds a disco groove to the retro indie feel from the first track, and from this point on I feel the album doesn’t stray far from this formula.

 

 

ISLOMANIA feels very light and spacious, effortless, and carefree. Thorburn’s voice is full of indie charm and carries a sweet honesty to it. Islomania, in parts very much reminds me of Vampire Weekend but with added overtones of 70’s disco guitar and synths It’s full of catchy melodies and it feels like a lot like summer in a very easy listening and radio friendly kind of way.

All in all, this is a well thought out and put together release, it’s catchy indie pop at heart, and on that it delivers in bucket loads BUT I found it a little samey and if you are looking for something ground-breaking and totally original, I don’t think this is the record for you. But it’s still a very good record and I did enjoy listening and reviewing it.

 

7/10

REVIEW BY DESH KAPUR

 

 

TRACK LISTING FOR ISLOMANIA.

1. Islomania
2. (We Like To) Do It With The Lights On
3. Carpenter
4. Closed Captioning
5. Set The Fairlight
6. A Passionate Age
7. Natural Law Party
8. Never Let You Down
9. Marble
10. Gore

 

 

 

FOLLOW ISLANDS

 

 

FOLLOW ALL MUSIC MAGAZINE

 

 

.

 

 

 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA