Islands is the kind of band that has the ability to suck you into their creative vortex and draw from you the emotions that they choose to illicit accordingly, all the while Return to the Sea remains very optimistic and upbeat. How could it not? If you are a follower of Islands leaders Nick Diamond and J'aime Tambeur (who recently left the band) then you will already know the type of music these musicians typically create. Formerly The Unicorns, who were popular for their imaginative but messy pop music, are now Islands and they seemed to have tuned their instruments this time.
The best way to describe the sound on Return to the Sea is a well concocted mixture of calypso, pop, and rock. The album has one unifying sound which is pleasing to the ears and piques the mind's interest, yet each song maintains a certain uniqueness by adding some other style of music to the mix. For example, on the track "Where There's A Will, There's A Whale Bone" the sound is reminiscent of Th' Corn Gang, another one of the Unicorns side projects in which popular MC's laid tracks over Unicorn's songs. Nearing the middle of the song it changes from the most dark natured track on the album to a hip hop song and just as fast as it made the change it returns back to the songs original state just soon enough to wrap it up.
On the opening track "Swans (Life After Death)" elements of progressive rock can be heard. The beginning opens up to a mysterious whistling and a soft melody, which soon takes the form of today's typical progressive indie song that creates a large build up to the point of bursting and crashes in through a whaling of melodies and crooning. What makes "Swans" more interesting than the average progressive song is the interesting twist of calypso on the progressive cliché. Kind of like Coke with Lime.
The track "Volcanoes" can easily be picked out as a song influenced by country with its speedy, unchanging, chug-chug beat amidst fiddles and a humorous story typical of Diamond and Tambeur. "Volcanoes" is the apocalyptic tale of a large active volcano emerging in Alaska, melting it, and creating a new, icier Argentina. The track ends with a satisfying crash of all the instruments utilized throughout the song.
Return to the Sea's diversity and ironic, witty storytelling deserve the music community's attention for a brief time. If they have a track record anything like their former projects than they will not be around for much longer, it would be a shame to let a band of such talent and range as Islands be missed. The thing that makes Return to the Sea really worth the time, exactly one hour to be precise, is that it's fun. Islands is an easy listen which makes it great to take with you in the car or play at a party. It can also be a creative endeavor if you're really interested and pay close attention. Return to the Sea is great because of it can be played to anywhere, anytime.
Although Tambeur, half of the brains behind the project, has already left Islands Diamond tells their audience they will continue to play on, "Islands are forever," he proclaims as we wishes Tambeur the best.
