Islands

                                             A Sleep & A Forgetting

                                                      5.4/10

Sigh. This isn’t what I want to do to my poor Islands. The canadian rock band that gave us the magnificent Return to the Sea. Sure, Arm’s Way was a slight misstep but even so — there were a handful of good jams on that thing to keep it going and plus, it still had that Islands vibe. Same for the stripped down and under-the-radar Vapours which was a big time grower. Even though it was bare bones, Nick Thorburn (aka Nick Diamonds) still put his wonderful stamp on the record. But with their latest effort, A Sleep & a Forgetting, things are just…well mundane, something Islands are definitely not known for. 

A Sleep & A Forgetting kinda builds off of Thorburn’s solo album, which he released last year. I Am An Attic was a terrible collection of throw away tracks that sounded like a dulled down version of Islands. And that’s what we pretty much hear on the band’s fourth LP: things are sad and dreary but boring. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love depressing sad and painful music as much as the next guy but the two main problems I have here are: 1) Everything is so stagnate. Nothing movies and nothing is personal. When Thorburn or Diamonds or whatever he wants to be called, sings I can’t connect — and the lack of hooks and melodies don’t help the cause either.

2) This isn’t what I want to hear from Islands. I mean, I guess I can’t say I’m surprised with the harder sound of  Arm’s Way, which lead into the nuts and bults landscape of Vapours, which what I assume lead to the lackluster I Am An Attic. If you asked me to pick out or hum a few notes from A Sleep it would be nearly impossible. I can only recall liking “Oh Maria” and the single “This is Not a Song.” Other than that, it might as well have been the same song 9 times. Maybe this is Thorburn’s way of saying “I Want To Be Taken Seriously” and A Sleep is his “adult record.” Out goes the windpipes, xylophones, congo drums, tropical synths, catchy hooks, lively singing and in come the lame arrangements, lazy guitar work and tired vocals.

Thorburn has been in a number of other projects as well: the Unicorns (RIP), Mister Heavenly, Th’Corn Gangg, Reefer and Human Highway. All of these projects are so different from each other but end up all vibrant and brim with personality and flavor, unlike A Sleep. Maybe Thorburn has spent all his creative juices on his side project and there’s nothing left for Islands. I know the Unicorns are dead but I sincerely hope Islands still have a few good years left…but how things are going, I doubt that’s the case. 

Watch the video for “This is Not a Song” below: