Islands Are Forever

ISLANDS - I surprise myself how many times I mistakenly refer to this band as The Unicorns. Now why would I do such a thing? Well because this band is in fact half Unicorn. Yes, Islands is the official next project of members of everybody’s favourite quirky singing duo. Unicorns’ singer Nicholas Thorburn and drummer Jamie Thompson formed the band after the 2004 break-up and while similarities may be drawn, this is a brand new project, complete with a new sound. Speaking of new sound, some of their songs even feature a couple of rappers strutting their stuff. This is just one example of the wide variety of sounds they incorporate, a variety that works quite well. Their debut album, Return To The Sea, has been receiving high rotation in my cd player and I highly recommend it. Here are a couple of songs off it:

Rough Gem – This was what you would call the typical single on the album. Short, sweet and minimally abstract, it’s perfectly suited to radio airplay. It is also the first song I liked off the album, probably do to those mentioned reasons. But what this song really has going for it is Nick’s vocals. This may sound odd, but I simply love it when he has to strain his voice. He unleashes a dormant power that's a pleasure listen to. While this will likely be an early favourite, I encourage you to listen closely to the other songs, whose quirkiness you will surely warm to.

Swans (Life After Death) – In contrast to Rough Gem this is the epic of the album. It feels a bit odd at track one as you feel like three songs have passed before you get to the 2nd track but never-the-less it is a great track. It does however suit the opening track in that it is a nice warm up. Just when you think the pace is getting to a critical point, it pulls back to a calm melody – another great song.