Famed indie quartet Islands have announced their first music in more than five years with the release of the new album Islomania. Along with the album’s announcement, the group shared a brand new video for the album’s single “(We Like To) Do It With The Lights On.” The new album is set for release later this year on June 11 and will their first release on the Royal Mountain Records label.
The new infectious track follows a high-tempo, poppy electro beat as Islands frontman Nick Thorburn chants “I can’t see your face when you’re moving out of place / I want to dance ’til dawn / I want to do it with the lights on.” The track’s corresponding video, directed by award-winning filmmaker Tim Nickashi, matches the song’s energy. Thorburn is seen dancing and singing along to the upbeat track in various outfits and backdrops while the song unfolds around him. “(We Like To) Do It With The Lights On,” marks an enthusiastic return for the group and its bouncy, positive vibe will make for a perfect record when the full album drops just in time for summer.
Discussing the track, Thorburn says it came to life while he was actually not working with the band. “After quitting Islands in 2016, I briefly considered doing writing for others,” says Thorburn. “I came up with the song title as a tossed-off joke. It seemed fitting with the kind of playful innuendo that seems to do well in the pop sphere. Once I started to flesh it out after booting up the band again, I realized it was mine, and for Islands only. I started it with the groove first and built the melody off the top. This is like most of the songs on this record, which is new for me.”
As for Islomania, Thorburn says as soon as he began playing with the band again, he knew it was time for another record. “At the time I still wasn’t sure what this new music was going to be, or if coming back to Islands even made any sense,” says Thorburn. “But once we started playing, it quickly became clear this would be the next Islands album.” Islomania is currently available for pre-order online.
Islomania Tracklist:
1. “Islomania”
2. “(We Like To) Do It With The Lights On”
3. “Carpenter”
4. “Closed Captioning”
5. “Set The Fairlight”
6. “A Passionate Age”
7. “Natural Law Party”
8. “Never Let You Down”
9. “Marble”
10. “Gore”