Album Review: Islands - A Sleep & A Forgetting

Posted by: Matt Moskal  •  March 21, 2012 @ 8:00pm

Filed under: Reviews

Nicholas Thorburn of Islands hasn't always been candid. As a morbid merrymaker in The Unicorns, his delightful dark songwriting was buried of silly skeleton metaphors. When the band dissolved, Thorburn started multiple projects every year. Each band played a different genre. Most notably, there was hip-hop (Th' Corn Gangg), '60s AM pop (Human Highway) and his new invention, doom-wop (Mister Heavenly). Islands were always a constant, but their line-up and style changed between albums. Despite bloody imagery, it was through this project that Thorburn seemed most sincere. However, on their fourth album, Islands' concepts seem far less contorted.

A Sleep & A Forgetting is a break-up record. After Thorburn ended a relationship in New York, he migrated to California. This inspired a slew of songs written on the piano in his place of residence. He and multi-instrumentalist Evan Gordon then recorded the album over span of two weeks. Unlike the rest of the Islands canon, the results were exceptionally understated.

Stylistically, the compositions are kept simple. There is a heavy influence of 1960s soul ballads in the album's first single, "This is Not a Song". The band is kept at bay for disciplined accompaniment. Thorburn's vocals remain soft with liberal cracks and lifts throughout, allowing the chorus to truly come alive. This formula proves effective throughout "Lonely Love", "Don't I Love You" and "Oh Maria", which serve as inspired sing-alongs. In spite of their chilling choruses, their melodies are memorable and even somewhat saccharine. "Cold Again" recalls some of Thorburn's famous frightening imagery in three inescapably catchy verses. "Someone is sleeping, drowning out all that screaming of someone's loved ones right outside," sings Nick through the bridge. Percussionist Luc Laurent's tambourine rattles like chains over chattering and howling high notes. Accompanied with a Crickets-worthy palm-muted guitar solo, this winter anthem earns a timeless quality.

A Sleep & A Forgetting isn't completely without up-tempo numbers. Second single "Hallways" is a jiving piano jingle with a Bobby Pickett croon in its closing round. There's an unspoken organic connection between it stomp-and-clap rhythm section and the playful pounding of keys. This is the most fun Islands have sounded since "Rough Gem" off of 2006's Return to the Sea. "I Can't Feel My Face" is an organ and guitar riff-fight with a surf-rock back-beat. Despite being the heaviest track on the album, there's a certain calmness to it. Its verses reveal and angry void that is confronted with unabashed confidence. "I miss my wife, I miss my best friend every night," sings Thorburn. Though direct and dramatic, A Sleep & A Forgetting feels mature. "I loved a girl and I will never love again," sings Nick on album-closer "Same Thing". By the end of the first listen, you'll feel he's moved on. The next play through is for your sorrows.

After all of his indulgences, Thorburn's craft is as honed as ever. Softening and opening up has served Islands well.

Tags: Islands, Indie, A Sleep & A Forgetting, ANTI-, The Unicorns, Nicholas Thorburn, Evan Gordon, Geordie Gordon, Luc Laurent, Hallways

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