Islands

Emerging from Montreal during the late-2000s quirky indie-pop wave, Islands fused exploratory sonic textures with memorable choruses to gain traction. Nicholas Thorburn, previously of lo-fi indie-rock unit the Unicorns, assembled the group in 2005 and prioritized clearer studio sheen alongside a neo-psychedelic atmosphere. Although personnel shifted repeatedly, the band sustained consistent releases through its first ten years, issuing key works such as the 2006 debut Return to the Sea and 2016’s Should I Remain Here at Sea?. After entering hiatus near the close of the 2010s, Islands restarted activity in 2021 via the mainstream-leaning Islomania and followed two years later with the comparatively lean And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs.

Once the Unicorns disbanded, Thorburn (also known as Nick Diamonds, handling vocals, guitar, and keyboard) and Jamie Thompson (aka J’aime Tambeur, on drums) established Islands. From its early-2005 inception, the Canadian ensemble incorporated an ever-shifting roster of additional players covering diverse instruments both live and in the studio, among them Alex and Sebastian Chow (the 1993 and 1994 World Super NES Fest champions), Jim Guthrie (grandson of Woody and nephew of Arlo), and rappers Subtitle and Busdriver.

Islands delivered its first album, Return to the Sea, in April 2006 and backed the worldwide rollout with dates alongside Metric. That May, however, Tambeur declared his exit, forcing an immediate reconfiguration ahead of European shows. Two years afterward, the band signed with ANTI- Records and released Arm’s Way, which avoided any outside guests unlike its predecessor; Tambeur nevertheless returned briefly to contribute to the third album, Vapours. His second departure was announced in 2010, at which point drummer Aaron Harris (a member from 2006 to 2009) rejoined, only to be succeeded shortly thereafter by Luc Laurent of Pepper Rabbit.

A Sleep & a Forgetting arrived in early 2012, shaped by the end of Thorburn’s marriage and marked by the band’s most candid songwriting to that point. The follow-up, 2013’s Ski Mask, introduced yet another drummer, Adam Halferty, plus brothers Evan and Geordie Gordon from Guelph, Ontario’s the Magic. In 2016 Islands presented two separately crowdfunded albums: Taste, which highlighted electronic and dance elements, and Should I Remain Here, at Sea?, a rock-oriented spiritual successor to Return to the Sea.

Operations soon paused after a pair of farewell concerts at Webster Hall in New York and Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Thorburn pursued other endeavors, yet concepts for fresh Islands material persisted; he ultimately assembled a set foregrounding pop sensibilities. Mixed by John Congleton and issued in 2021, Islomania emphasized strong hooks and a polished, expansive sound with commercial aspirations. The reunion retained the mid-2010s configuration of Thorburn, Halferty, and the Gordon brothers, and their 2023 album And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs reduced some of the prior record’s scale while retaining the group’s buoyant pop approach.