Islands Release Darkly Humorous New Video For "Hallways"
Acclaimed modernist pop band Islands have released a darkly humorous and highly atmospheric video for the upbeat and melodic song "Hallways" from their acclaimed new Anti-Records release A Sleep & A Forgetting. The clip features the band's singer-songwriter Nick Thorburn performing with, and then joining, an exuberant band of skeleton musicians.
The video was co directed by Lex Halaby and puppeteer Toben Seymour. As Halaby explains, "From the beginning we talked with Nick about making a video that's equal parts funny and creepy. Nick he brought up the Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s as a source of inspiration. 'The Skeleton Dance' (1929) caught our eye and sparked the concept. We loved the idea of bringing an entire skeleton band to life. We also wanted an animated world that looked more like stop motion animation. The skeleton puppets were brought to life by four puppeteers; each one controlling the arms, legs, torso, and head. It was a team effort in every single shot."
To watch the imaginative video for the Islands song "Hallways" just go to the Anti YouTube Channel.
A Sleep & A Forgetting is the much anticipated follow up to Islands' critically lauded album Vapours. The record continues the band's penchant for crafting adventuresome state of the art pop music utilizing shimmering sonic textures and irresistible melodies. But this time band leader Nick Thorburn has infused the songs with a sense of personal introspection that gives the album a powerful new emotional resonance.
Acclaim For Islands' A Sleep & A Forgetting:
"It's the most cohesive-- and, possibly, the out-and-out strongest-- Islands record yet, one that retains a singular focus while zooming in on an artist who's preferred to remain at a distance, obscured by so many stylistic gambits, for so long." - Pitchfork
"Though the subject of A Sleep & A Forgetting is one of the most common human experiences, the album is not a generic tribute to a breakup. It's an inspired look at the grieving human heart. And one of the best Islands records so far, to boot." - Paste
"William Wordsworth wrote "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting/ The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, / Hath had elsewhere its setting / And cometh from afar ..." The Montreal pop band Islands' fourth and latest release, "A Sleep & A Forgetting" echoes that sentiment of transition in that it's a breakup record (and what's a birth other than the biggest breakup of all time). The front man Nick Thorburn unburdens himself at the piano, and his heartache comes coated in nostalgic pop melodies." - New Yorker
"Thorburn anchors every note, every contribution with a personal outpouring of emotion and heartbreak, the likes of which we've never seen from him before. "- Prefix