Sometimes writing music that is vastly unlike everything a band has ever written to date is a good thing. Different doesn’t always have to mean lesser than. Just because a particular band has the indie music market covered with its signature brand of pop/rock/shoegaze sound, doesn’t mean there isn’t room to try something new. In 2008, front man Nick Thorburn parted ways with the infectious pop tunes he has been most known for producing. Though pop music may be the home where Thorburn’s heart resides, the Islands sophomore release Arm’s Way opted to follow the road less travelled. Arm’s Way is a gorgeous, brooding album with notes and harmonies that haunt your dreams. And unlike past albums, Arm’s Way took the liberty of time and patience, allowing each melancholy song to manifest its dark beauty on its own clock.
And while the less-pop-is-more approach was a good look for Islands, the band opted to revert back to its pop-loving ways with the new album. Vapours is a lighthearted throwback to more familiar days where songs don’t wander haphazardly through volume and uncertainty. The new album offers not only the return of drummer Jamie Thompson, but also those rich pop-infused melodies that made Islands so much fun to listen to upon their inception. Vapours is teeming with the kind of blithe exuberance that makes you want to do anything but stand still.
The album’s electronic-heavy harmonies incorporate everything from drum machines to technology to create definite and defined sounds that don’t leave room for expansion. “Tender Torture” and “Devout” rumble with deep electronic plunks and without drowning out Thorburn’s subtle, but undeniably seductive voice. “Heartbeat” proves that, sadly, no album - even the good ones - is safe from Auto-Tune. If you can look past that unnecessary electronic addition, it’s actually a really great little pop song. One that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still somehow manages to be endearing despite the irritating whine of an unnecessary technology.
Though Vapours isn’t exactly a huge stretch artistically for a band so obviously capable of reinvention, it proves that Islands hasn’t lost its touch when it comes to creating great indie pop music time and time again.
-- Brigitte B. Zabak [October 27, 2009]
