{"id":41716,"date":"2009-10-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vapours\/"},"modified":"2009-10-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-05T00:00:00","slug":"vapours","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vapours\/","title":{"rendered":"Vapours"},"content":{"rendered":"

On their third release in as many years, Jamie Thompson and Nick Thorburn have reunited as Islands to produce a raucous, tight album that thankfully reigns in much of the excess of 2008\u2019s Arm\u2019s Way. <\/i>Born out of the ashes of much-beloved The Unicorns, Islands\u2019 debut, Return To The Sea,<\/i> was an absolutely stunning affirmation of the duo\u2019s ability to harness a patchwork of sounds into something cohesive and evocative. As such, Thompson\u2019s absence on the follow-up was definitely felt, resulting in a sprawling effort that drowns in its own baroque sensibilities. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

So, is the third time the charm for these dynamic Canadians? Though it\u2019s hard to improve on the excellence of their debut, Vapours <\/i>is a solid effort, harmonious and surprisingly well-edited. Opener \u201cSwitched On\u201d is not quite as jittery as you\u2019d expect from Islands, but there\u2019s a good flow nonetheless, all swirling keyboards, Thorburn\u2019s bright vocals, and a breezy, catchy chorus. There\u2019s not really a \u201csignature\u201d Islands sound, but the group has managed to take their pop core and tease new sounds of it without being too over-the-top. Such irrepressible energy is what makes tracks like the title cut hit the mark, which is one of the most instantly accessible moments Islands has put to disc. Full of jubilant guitars and a bouncing brass section, the song\u2019s climax comes as Thorburn proclaims, \u201cIt\u2019s the bassline in your mind \/ It\u2019s the sexy way to cry.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Of course, it wouldn\u2019t be an Islands release without a bit \u2013 okay, a lot \u2013 of sheer strangeness. This is, after all, the band that has written odes to the apocalypse and pop ditties about creepers stabbing in the dark. On this release, \u201cNo You Don\u2019t\u201d provides a quick shot of creepiness with its slow, thudding electronic backbeat, while \u201cDevout\u201d tells the tale of bank robbery\/love story gone terribly wrong, set to the tune of shimmering keyboards and breathless vocals. Even their foray into the much-abused Auto-Tune, \u201cHeartbeat,\u201d doesn\u2019t totally flop; it\u2019s intriguing in its spacey soullessness, and the synthesis of real instrumentation and distorted vocals works well.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Where Arm\u2019s Way <\/i>got too preoccupied with genre-bending, this album finds Islands falling back in love with making the simple pop tune sound not so cut-and-dry. Though no song on Vapours <\/i>goes over five minutes, Thorburn\u2019s witty, finely-crafted lyrics paired with the stunning depth of instrumentation assure that each one is listenable and enjoyable. From the rollicking piano, joyous harmonies, and purely awesome storytelling of \u201cDisarming The Car Bomb\u201d to the delightfully creepy, feedback-drenched \u201cShining,\u201d Vapours <\/i>is an album that is instantly likeable due to its sparkling pop sensibilities, but it also grows upon reflection, unfolding layers of complexity. Deceptively upbeat, charmingly corrupt \u2013 Islands continues to be one to watch in the indie world. <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7727],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41716","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-islands","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41716"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}