Islands’ Nicholas Thorburn is no longer a victim of love

Islands’ Nicholas Thorburn dispenses with the breakup laments and turns his aggression outward on Ski Mask

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      When Islands leader Nicholas Thorburn answers the Straight’s phone call, the songwriter is concerned for his safety. He and his bandmates are driving down a Manitoba highway en route to a show in Winnipeg, and the snowy conditions are hazardous, to say the least.

      “We were in Fargo [North Dakota] last night, and just getting across to the Manitoba border, there were complete whiteout conditions,” the singer explains. “We couldn’t see five feet in front on the road, and there were cars in the ditch and jackknifed semis.

      “Just trying to change lanes, we were fishtailing a little bit,” he continues. “It’s treacherous stuff being in a band on tour. Our lives are in danger.”

      Despite the terrifying drive, Thorburn and company have a good reason to be out on the road: they’re promoting their album Ski Mask, which came out last September. The LP was recorded during the same studio session that produced Islands’ previous album, 2012’s A Sleep & a Forgetting.

      “We had three weeks, and we made two records from top to bottom,” he says. “Not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty impressed with our work ethic. Evan [Gordon] and Geordie [Gordon] and I were very prepared and very focused, and we were able to do that. It’s an intense, laborious process.”

      Despite having been recorded at the same time, Ski Mask is a departure from the emotive breakup laments of A Sleep & a Forgetting. The new LP begins with “Wave Forms”, a soaring pop gem with blippy synthesizers and bright calypso flourishes. Elsewhere, the ascendent “Hushed Tones” mixes distorted grit and harmonized sweetness, and “Of Corpse” is a slowly building ballad that finds the vocalist cooing grotesque lyrics about “urine and feces”.

      These songs incorporate styles that Thorburn has used throughout Islands’ career, and he describes Ski Mask as “a natural reflection of the previous records”.

      That said, the album is distinct from his band’s past releases. “On previous Islands records, I usually played the victim and violence was an external force or self-inflicted,” he observes. “Now, the violence is something that I possess.” Evidence of his new perspective can be found in the threatening “Becoming the Gunship”.

      The album is Thorburn’s first for his newly minted Manqué Music label, following the end of Islands’ previous deal with ANTI-. His reasons for starting the label were practical rather than artistic, but he hopes to expand Manqué’s scope by releasing music from other acts. “I would like to have it grow into a little boutique thing and put out records by people that we admire and believe in,” he says.

      The prolific musician also has a few other projects on his plate. Although the widely rumoured reunion with his former band the Unicorns has fallen through for the time being, he’s aiming to reconvene with his side project Mister Heavenly soon, and he hopes to head back to the studio with Islands before the end of the year.

      Of course, for this to happen, he must first navigate the Prairies’ treacherous roads. As our conversation winds down, Thorburn reveals with relief that the van has reached Winnipeg. “We just hit town, so we’ve survived,” he says. “Unless, you know, I get run over on the way to the venue.”

      Islands plays Fortune Sound Club on Monday (March 31).

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