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Written by Graham Lynch

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Stalwarts of the vibrant Montreal music scene, Islands, led by a former member of respected lo-fi poppers Unicorns, and featuring a bass playing prodigy and ex-Prince sidekick as well as associates of, among others, epic indie rockers Arcade Fire and Wolf Eyes and experimental hip-hoppers Bus Driver and Subtitle, this year released their second album, the sprawling, playful, occasionally humorous and frequently dark opus Arm’s Way. The album has seen the group build successfully on the groundwork laid down by their well received debut, 2006s Return to the Sea, a collaborative and musically scattered affair by comparison to its successor, with a number of guests appearing throughout its duration, joining Islands main-man Nick T and former sidekick (and also ex-Unicorn) J’aime Tambeur on a excursion through a myriad of genres and musical styles. With J’aime T having since departed, Nick is preparing to make his way over with the re-jigged Islands line up for their first ever full Irish tour. I spoke with him about his recollections of the groups formation, the influence of Paul Simon’s Graceland and conceiving while high on mushrooms.

“Islands was formed by myself and Jamie after the dissolution of the Unicorns in December 2004,” he says, by way of an introduction. “We moved to LA, in a sort of holding pattern, and to offset the effects of winter, and created the transitional rap group/production duo Corn Gangg with Bus Driver and Subtitle in addition to recording some early islands demos with Red Kross’s Steve Mcdonald.

“When we’d overstayed our welcome, we went back to Montreal, palate cleansed, and began work on recording the album, proper. We recruited our musician friends to help us flesh out the arrangements, and put a band together when the album was complete. The rest is….history?”

How prevalent was the ghosts of the then recently split Unicorns in those songs? It was well publicized at the time that Paul Simon’s Graceland was a huge influence on the album – how in particular did that album influence you? “The album Graceland has had a profound musical effect on me, before I was a musician myself, and probably pre-conscious. The Unicorns split still stung, and Swans was a direct response to that, having been conceived of while still in the Unicorns…and high on mushrooms.”

The number of people who collaborated on the album would seems to suggest that Nick is either very trusting of these artists or that he was open to experimentation and wasn’t particularly overly precarious with the material…so what lead him to seeking so many collaborations? “The stakes were relatively low, and the atmosphere was fun and relaxed. I think one of the keys to being an artist is the willingness to experiment and an open minded, spontaneous mindset.” And with the benefit of hindsight, how does he now view Return to the Sea? “Return To The Sea was a great pleasure to record and a successful experiment, I think.”

The general consensus with regards to Arm’s Way would seem to be that with this record the group has become more focused, if not also more ambitious – it’s certainly a hefty record both in terms of its sound and duration (its running time pushes 70 minutes), but where previously Islands were prone to wild tangents and genre arcs, from hip-hop to electro to calypso, with Arm’s Way those influences have been channelled into a more concentrated sound. How much of that is down to circumstances changing within the band in terms of the line up in the wake of former songwriter J’Aime Tambeur’s departure? And would it be fair to say that the new more solidified line-up seriously impacted the writing and recording of Arm’s Way? “I think having a consistent line-up absolutely affects the consistency of the music,” Nick says. “The band were shown my songs, stripped down and then we would sit in a room and work out their arrangements together.”

Ask Nick however where he thinks Islands music sits in the genre pool, whether or not he sees his group fitting into any particular scene or if he readily identifies with any other contemporary bands out there and he’s less sure. “This isn’t the most interesting, nor healthy thing for me to think about. I’d probably have an off base assessment about what we’d sound like and most critics probably do too.”

Lyrically speaking, Arm’s Way is once again quite dark – some might even say morbid such is the seeming fascination with death and the many graphic connotations and metaphors contained within the verses and choruses. There’s a juxtaposition of sorts with the dark lyrics pitted often against the lush and bright pop sounds of the musical accompaniment – does Nick purposely set out to create such paradoxes? And how important for him is it that people take in the lyrics or is it even a concern (if we are to consider the possibility that the music’s upbeat nature masks the dark nature of the lyrics to such an extent that they may pass people by)?

“Pieces of you is a good example of this: the anti-chorus. The content of the song is incredibly dark but the chorus seems triumphant and there’s a good beat that you can dance to. I’ve always been drawn to these juxtaposition but I feel like as I progress, the song doesn’t remain the same - the whole thing gets darker. I have two albums written, and they’re both incredibly dark, one a little more contemplative and acoustic driven and the other a little more aggressive and masculine.”

But before Nick and his cohorts flex their musical muscles, Islands will play Cyprus Avenue next Saturday, September 21. Tickets are on sale now from the Old Oak and Ticketmaster.

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