New Islands Album 'A Sleep & A Forgetting' Out Now
The new album by the acclaimed modernist pop band Islands, entitled A Sleep & A Forgetting, arrives in stores this Valentines Day. It's only perfect since the soulful record provides an ideal musical accompaniment to both the glowing romance and crushing loneliness of the holiday. The record continues the band's penchant for crafting shimmering sonic textures and irresistible melodies, but this time band leader Nick Thorburn has infused his songs with a personal introspection which gives the record a powerful new emotional resonance.
And watch the evocative video for the track "This Is Not A Song" by going here.
Make sure to catch Islands when the play a select series of live dates across North America starting February 14th. The shows will be held in intimate venues recreating the confessional tone of this enthralling new album.
Advance Acclaim For Islands' A Sleep & A Forgetting
"The latest album from Islands is most certainly a breakup record, but rather than dwell in minor keys and melancholia, Thorburn sounds like he's celebrating something. Quite possibly, it's his own imminent emotional implosion, but the music (and hence the listener) suffers none of that. Instead, we're treated to bouts of barroom blues, swooning soul, plinking piano, and what might be the only heartfelt sentiment Thorburn's committed to wax since the unfortunate implosion of his legendary quirk-pop project the Unicorns. Truth be told, it's the best material to rise out of those hallowed ashes yet... - LA Weekly
"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
Islands Tour Dates
Feb 14 Los Angeles - Bootleg Theatre
Feb 15 Phoenix - Crescent Ballroom
Feb 17 Austin - St David's Episcopal Church
Feb 18 Dallas - Sons of Herman Hall
Feb 20 Birmingham - Bottletree
Feb 22 Washington DC - Black Cat
Feb 23 TBA - Baltimore
Feb 24 Philadelphia - First Unitarian Chapel - 2 shows
Feb 25 Le Poisson Rouge - NYC
Feb 26 Hamden, CT - The Space
Feb 29 Pontiac - Magnetic Recording
Mar 01 Chicago - Lincoln Hall
Mar 02 Minneapolis - 7th St Entry
Mar 10 Seattle - Vera Project
Mar 11 Portland - Mississippi Studios
Mar 13 San Francisco - Hotel Utah - 2 shows