“Waves” is the life-affirming new offering from ISLAND, lifted from the quartet’s upcoming second EP, A Place You Like.
Still unsigned, the track aims to harness the raw, unaffected intimacy and deep connection with their live audience that the band prides themselves on. Rollo Doherty’s increasingly familiar vocals remain a coarse staple over the glittering and, at times, feverish guitar melody. It’s almost incomprehensible how precise an ISLAND arrangement is considering how organic the flow is and yet they continue to present these near-flawless pieces which started with debut single “Stargazer,” itself clocking up 1.7 million streams on its way to #7 on the Spotify global viral chart, and has followed them through the first year or so of their career.
As emotively enrapturing as always, the band explained, “We all experience times when we feel like the light has disappeared from our lives, ‘Waves’ is about finding that someone to take you back out of the darkness.” Perhaps the only sticking point for me is the unremarkable ending which seems to drop away in light of the spirited hubbub before it.
The band have a busy month of traveling ahead culminating in a headline show at London’s Scala.
October
1st – Institute 3, Birmingham
2nd – Exchange, Bristol
8th – Manic Street Parade, Munich
22nd – SWN, Cardiff
24th – Le Pop Up Du Label, Paris
25th – Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam
26th – V11, Rotterdam
27th – DDW Alstadt, Eindhoven
30th – Sticky Mikes, Brighton
November
1st – Joiners, Southampton
2nd – Scala, London