One man isn’t Islands

>> Sophomore album Arm’s Way sees Nick
Thorburn truly arm in arm with his bandmates

OUT ON A LIMB: Nick Thorburn (far right) and Islands

by ERIK LEIJON

Islands frontman Nick Thorburn (formerly Nick Diamonds) finally seems at ease with being a rock star. After the dissolution of Thorburn’s first band, the Unicorns, and the many line-up switches that plagued the early stages of Islands, it could have been easy to peg Islands’ sophomore effort, Arm’s Way, as the culmination of a longstanding creative cold war between the group’s lead singer/guitarist and those around him.

After all, Islands left Montreal-based Equator records for Epitaph sister label Anti-, while longtime collaborator and Islands co-founder Jamie Thompson left abruptly, as did guitarist Jim Guthrie. In this case, looks can be deceiving, as Islands have transformed from Thorburn and a revolving door of guest stars into a cohesive group with a stable future.

“Return to the Sea was a project between Jamie and myself,” says Thorburn. “We brought in our friends and it became a festive atmosphere. Afterwards, we had to put a band together to play those songs, but I didn’t anticipate the band would become such an intrinsic part of the project. It’s such a collaborative effort now. I’ll come in with a song that’s more skeletal, and we’ll spend months fine-tuning to the point where they exceed my expectations.”

When Thompson originally left the group in May 2006, it was a wake-up call for Thorburn, who was now undoubtedly the creative face of Islands. “I had a lot of growing up to do when he left,” says Thorburn, adding he and Thompson had already started planning a follow-up to Return to the Sea when he quit the group. “That was when ‘The Arm’ was written and that was a personal breakthrough for me, and a real turning point in the band’s existence.”

Not only was the rest of band—violinists Alex and Sebastien Chow, guitarist Patrick Gregoire, drummer Aaron Harris and bassist Patrice Agbokou—contributing more to the unconventionally structured, extended pieces that would eventually become Arm’s Way, but Thorburn himself felt more comfortable as a vocalist. Producer Ryan Hadlock was instrumental in getting Thorburn to try singing more emotively and to let go of his previous, characteristically muted singing style.

“Having a producer, I think that flipped a switch in my brain where I was really able to come out of my shell. I grew tired of that disaffected, sarcastic approach to singing. I had a bad experience early on in my musical development, where someone said my vocals sounded ‘affected.’ This was before even recording the Unicorns and that really stung. I always made a point to ennunciate words the way I would speak them as opposed to having my own specific accent to singing, and I guess it took me a while to shake that.”

One aspect where Thorburn has been more assured has been his dislike for the more poppy elements of Return to the Sea, specifically the sunny number “Rough Gem.” Last October at Pop Montreal, he held a de facto retirement for the song, mocking one of Islands fans’ most cherished tunes. Thorburn says they may still play it occasionally as a compromise with fans.

“When I was writing for Arm’s Way, I wasn’t thinking, ‘We have to get away from “Rough Gem.”’ It’s just more that I’ve matured as a songwriter and ‘Rough Gem’ was this exercise in pop songwriting.”

With the Magic and Street
Carnage at le National on Wednesday,
May 28, 8:30 p.m., $15, all ages