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Apr 15, 2021 By Emma Goad

Islands are releasing their first new album in five years, Islomania, on June 11 via Royal Mountain. Now they have shared another song from it, “Set the Fairlight.” Check out the video for their newest single below.

Nick Thorburn, who resurrected Islands after a dormant five years, talks about “Set the Fairlight” in a press release: “This was the last song made for the album, written and recorded during the pandemic. I suppose it’s vaguely about the feeling of anxiety and fear brought on by COVID. There’s separation (by a cemetery wall— grim!), isolation and the desire to reach out and touch someone. None of these themes were calculated or laboured over, though. Like most of my songwriting, I kind of let the subconscious take the wheel. I find I get to more interesting places when I’m not trying to steer the metaphors.”

The first single the group released after their break was “(We Like To) Do It With the Lights On,” and it immediately caught the attention of their listeners once again. The second single out now “Set the Fairlight,” is accompanied by a video where Thorburn teams up with producer Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) to create his vision of uncertainty conveyed through the single.

Islomania will be Island’s eighth album, and has been in production for at least two years, whereas the bands past two records Taste and Should I Remain Here at Sea?—released back in 2016—took only three weeks to produce. This process of taking time to create a single album is something new for Islands and will be a culmination of the band’s 10-year run together.

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