Listen to Islands’ New Song “Becoming the Gunship”

August 6th, 2013

Nina Corcoran

Canadian art pop group Islands are resurfacing from the ocean waves with “Becoming the Gunship” off their upcoming full-length album, Ski Mask. Where their first single, “Wave Forms,” was twitchy and sweet, “Becoming the Gunship” slows things down with vocal-driven swaying. Give it a listen after the jump.

Pay close attention to the layers in the song, where the bass line and soft backing choral parts are almost so subtle that they seem imaginary. Nick Thorburn says the song title came to him in a dream; that’s probably why the song’s entire style sounds dream-like, too.

Ski Mask will be Islands’ fifth album, following up last year’s A Sleep & a Forgetting. You can pick up a copy in September via Thorburn’s label Manqué. In a press release for the album Thorburn said the album is about identity, “specifically, the quest for finding out your own identity… All of these feelings and ideas that have been bubbling up over the course of four previous albums finally came to the surface on this one.”

Give “Becoming the Gunship” a listen below: