It's easy to think of Nick Thorburn (aka Nick Diamonds) as a bit of an eccentric, as most of his past work with the Unicorns and Islands has adeptly toed the line between funny and serious, often featuring plenty of bright and quirky instrumentation. For A Sleep & A Forgetting, however, Thorburn used a piano to compose a collection of deeply personal breakup songs.
Islands will release A Sleep & A Forgetting on Valentine's Day (February 14) via Anti-, but you can stream the whole thing all week here on Exclaim.ca.
These 11 songs were composed in Los Angeles following a breakup that caused Thorburn to move from New York. He started writing on Valentine's Day, so it's only fitting that it's now coming out on that day as well.
"The sound is really my interpretation of soul music," Thorburn explained in a statement. "I mean, I'm a white kid from Canada so it's gonna be very warped. But that's where my head was at, that particular way of dealing with themes of pain and heartbreak."
As previously reported, Islands will be taking these more personal, heart-on-sleeve songs on a North American tour, which kicks off later this month. You can see all the stops here. You can also order Islands' A Sleep & A Forgetting here.
And of course, listen to A Sleep & A Forgetting below.
Islands will release A Sleep & A Forgetting on Valentine's Day (February 14) via Anti-, but you can stream the whole thing all week here on Exclaim.ca.
These 11 songs were composed in Los Angeles following a breakup that caused Thorburn to move from New York. He started writing on Valentine's Day, so it's only fitting that it's now coming out on that day as well.
"The sound is really my interpretation of soul music," Thorburn explained in a statement. "I mean, I'm a white kid from Canada so it's gonna be very warped. But that's where my head was at, that particular way of dealing with themes of pain and heartbreak."
As previously reported, Islands will be taking these more personal, heart-on-sleeve songs on a North American tour, which kicks off later this month. You can see all the stops here. You can also order Islands' A Sleep & A Forgetting here.
And of course, listen to A Sleep & A Forgetting below.