: ' .. .:.... . ' ' ______________ : ________ : ' \ / .. .:. .. \ / : : \ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . : .\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _. : \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \ . ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / / : /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH! ' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. . :/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __ .\ / / / / / / / / / / / \ / / / / / / / / / / / . . \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / : \/ ____ \ / / / / / : \ / \ /\____/\ / / : : ________\/ \ / \ / / : ' \ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. . \ / \/ \ / \ / \ / . ' : \/ F A N G \ / : ' ____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. . \ / presents \ / . . \/ \/ : : . ..:.. , : Artist......: Islands : Album.......: Islomania : : Label.......: Royal Mountain Records .. .:.. . Genre.......: Indie : Catnr.......: RMR-135-2 . ' Source......: CD , ; Rip.date....: 2021-06-10 Str.date....: 2021-06-11 Quality.....: 271kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :.. .:. Url.........: http://www.islandsareforever.com ' ' , ________ ________ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / # title time \ / \/ \/ 1. Islomania 3:49 2. (We Like To Do It) With the Lights On 3:45 3. Carpenter 3:19 4. Closed Captioning 3:46 5. Set The Fairlight 5:47 6. A Passionate Age 4:44 7. Natural Law Party 3:30 8. Never Let You Down 4:33 9. Marble 4:35 10. Gore 3:30 ______ \ / ________ Runtime 41:18 ,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 84.21 ______ :\/ ', \ / , \ / ' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /. : Release Notes: \/ , \/ , ' ' ,: At the end of 2016, after ten years and seven albums, Nick :, : Thorburn quietly decided to put an end to Islands and retire : :' from music. There was no announcement or farewell, only two ': ,: shows at Webster Hall in New York and the Hollywood Forever :, : Cemetery in Los Angeles to commemorate the tenth anniversary of : :' the bandÆs widely adored debut album Return to the Sea. ôThis ': ,: seemed like a perfect time to put a cap on things and close out :, : the circle,ö Thorburn says. He switched focus, selling and : :' producing a pilot television script, creating a graphic novel ': ,: with preeminent comics publisher Fantagraphics, and scoring a :, : few films and the occasional BBC radio show. : :' ': ,: ThorburnÆs years-long leave of absence resulted in a kind of :, : rock and roll Rumspringa, with Nick unable to shake the bug for : :' making records. After a sudden burst of creativity from a few ': ,: weeks of working in his kitchen studio, Thorburn had written :, : dozens and dozens of songs informed by everything from late-70s : :' avant-disco to Thea LimÆs time-travel novel An Ocean of ': ,: Minutes, and would write dozens more over the next year and a :, : half, almost all with a clear focus on rhythm and groove. : :' ': ,: Thorburn decided that if he was going to make another Islands :, : record, heÆd do it without a deadline. He also wanted to work : :' with outside producers, which would be his first time since ': ,: 2009Æs Vapours. He reached out to that albumÆs producer, Chris :, : Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) , and asked Islands : :' drummer Adam Halferty and guitarist Geordie Gordon to join him ': ,: in a recording session at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. :, : : :' ôAt the time I still wasnÆt sure what this new music was going ': ,: to be, or if coming back to Islands even made any sense,ö says :, : Thorburn. ôBut once we started playing, it quickly became clear : :' this would be the next Islands album.ö ': ,: :, : Five years after Islands went dormant, Nick resurrected the : :' band, who reemerge this year with their 8th album, Islomania. ': ,: More than two years in the making, Islomania is a culmination of :, : things Thorburn learned from the intervening period and all the : :' things heÆd accomplished during the bandÆs initial ten year ': ,: run. :, : : :' That initial session at Sunset Sound also featured Mike Stroud ': ,: (RATATAT) on guitar, who then invited Thorburn to his studio in :, : the Catskills, where they worked on another song (ôA Passionate : :' Ageö). With Islands bassist Evan Gordon soon brought into the ': ,: fold, Islomania slowly came to life over the coming year, with :, : more sessions in LA involving producer Patrick Ford (Tanlines, : :' !!!) and Coady. When the songs had been sufficiently finessed, ': ,: they brought on John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent) :, : to mix and Joe LaPorta (Vampire Weekend, David Bowie) to : :' master. ': ,: :, : ôI was determined to let the record breathe, let the process : :' take as long as it needed. I wanted the freedom to rework the ': ,: songs as we went along,ö says Thorburn, noting that the bandÆs :, : simultaneously released 2016 albums Taste and Should I Remain : :' Here at Sea? were completely recorded in a three-week span. ': ,: Through this unhurried process, Islands found an entirely new :, : form for their idiosyncratic blend of art rock and synth-pop, : :' ultimately arriving at their strongest record yet. ': ,: :, : Over the course of ten groove-heavy songs, Islomania flits from : :' the ridiculous to the sublime. On the surface, these songs are ': ,: all blissful hedonism, tracing the reckless abandon of a :, : progressively wild Friday night. But pick at the scab and : :' thereÆs a darkness. Themes of futility ': ,: :, : and repetition (ôClosed Captioningö), a yearning for : :' transcendence (ôNatural Law Partyö), a need for understanding ': ,: (ôA Passionate Ageö) and a deep desire for vulnerability and :, : intimacy (ôWe Like to Do it With the Lights Onö) thread the : :' album. ôTension and release exist throughout. Every song here ': ,: begins bottled up, but thereÆs always a cathartic release by the :, : end. ThereÆs darkness and doubt in every crevice of this : :' record, but thereÆs always a release,ö Thorburn says. ': ,: :, : After kicking off with the albumÆs sweetly tropical title track, : :' Islands intensify the mood with ôWe Like to Do It With The ': ,: Lights Onö: a dance song whose dreamy exuberance betrays a more :, : profound message. ôI wanted this record to be a celebration of : :' finding joy and pleasure in life,ö says Thorburn. ôI think ': ,: itÆs important to remember that, despite the darkness and :, : conflict and pain, thereÆs still goodness in the world.ö : :' ': ,: ThorburnÆs distinct brand of marrying upbeat and urgent melodies :, : with comically dark lyrics remain intact, with songs like : :' ôClosed Captioningö interweaving jagged horn arrangements with ': ,: grim lyrics about the end of the world. ôThat one came from :, : having to turn on closed captioning while watching a æprestigeÆ : :' TV show because the style of acting nowadays seems to be ': ,: everyone mumbling,ö Thorburn says. ôI thought the concept of :, : closed captioning was a fairly decent metaphor for the divisive : :' nature of this country, and the inability to understand one ': ,: another.ö The Stroud-produced track ôA Passionate Ageö rides the :, : line between dizzy and chilling in its vocoder-warped : :' reflection on modern lifeÆs endless chatter. And on ôNever Let ': ,: You Downö, Islands present one of IslomaniaÆs most :, : tender-hearted tracks, a radiant yet mournful piece of : :' synth-pop. ôThe album is all about transcending- In the ': ,: political, the spiritual, the emotional and the physical :, : sense,ö Thorburn says. ôAfter Natural Law Partyö - which : :' features an interpolation of Arthur RussellÆs early disco ': ,: outfit Loose Joints and their song Tell You (Today)- :, : ôculminates in a plea to æset my body freeÆ, transcendence is : :' achieved. Never Let You Down serves as the beginning of a come ': ,: down, though. The drugs have worn off, the doubt is creeping :, : in, but you push on, try to keep the party going. ItÆs a bit of : :' a reckoning, or a gradual return to earth- with hopefully a ': ,: little enlightenment in tact. ThereÆs a failed love song in :, : there, too- this hopeless idea that you can always be there for : :' someone, but both the narrator and the subject know itÆs a ': ,: lie, though they choose to believe it,ö Thorburn says. :, : : :' By the time Islomania closes out with ôGoreö - a song Thorburn ': ,: synopsizes as ôthe bloom coming off the roseö- the spirit has :, : returned to the body, descended. All thatÆs left now is death. : :' And this is ThorburnÆs party record!! Despite the heaviness, ': ,: the delicately articulated moods, and the moments of melancholy :, : and unease, the album sustains a heady effervescence thatÆs : :' undeniably tied to the spirit of its creation. ôThis record is ': ,: way more playful than I usually allow myself to be, or have :, : allowed myself to be in the last 15 years of making music with : :' Islands,ö says Thorburn. ôIt made me remember why I got into ': ,: this in the first place. I want everything to have meaning and :, : intention, but I also want to leave room to get a little lost. I : :' want the listener to feel enchanted by the music, and I think ': ,: we absolutely achieved that with this one. This is the best :, : album IÆve ever made, and I donÆt think it would have been : :' possible without leaving it all behind.ö ': : ' '.. ..' .. . :........... . . . . ............: . . ______________ ______________ \ / \ / \ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ / \ / \ / \ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ / \ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ / \ / \ / \/ ____ ____ \/ \ / F A N G \ / \/ 2 0 2 1 \/