Ski Mask

Restrained and refined are the best ways to describe Ski Mask. If you've never experienced an Islands album, you owe it to yourself to work your way through their discography (bonus points if you start with the Unicorns).Ski Mask begins where "A Sleep and a Forgetting" left off. Islands has abandoned the globetrotting, jukebox approach and settles into a sound both familiar and mature. There are no dance anthems, reggaeton breakdowns, nor fever dream-induced longings for mythical creatures. This reads like a forewarning because it is. Ski Mask isn't a kooky, experimental drifting along the inner working of a madman's playbook, it is a deliberate and mature offering of Thorburn's musical talents.The first half of the album is catchy, the second half is just as good albeit a bit slower. It is exactly the album an Islands fan would expect. While "A Sleep and a Forgetting" seemed more of a solo endeavor, Ski Mask reintroduces the "Islands approach." What worries me is the next album; I don't think I'm ready.

Though their efforts since "Return to the Sea," were by no means bad, I feel Islands has struggled to match the variety and quality of their first album. "Ski Mask" does an excellent job of bringing back the variety that was missing from the previous three albums.However, and probably for the better, this is by no means an attempt to create carbon-copies of styles used in "Return to the Sea." In fact, some songs may share more in common with styles from "Vapors," and "Arm's Way," but there is certainly a lot of new sounds to be heard in this work that demonstrates a desire from Islands to continue testing different qualities of music, rather than repeating past efforts. As others have said, $6 for the MP3s is a steal!

So Mr. Diamonds seems to have taken it a bit too easy on his last album. Not quirky enough, mostly introspective and moody.Return to the sea is very much in my top 10 all-time albums. And I have been dying to see him get at least close to what he did on that album again. Though Ski Mask doesn't take the top spot in his discography, I would safely say that it is the honorable runner-up. You get a bit of his different facets over the years, since his work as Unicorns. But ultimately the inventiveness and quirkiness that were being less and less present in his music show up here in a very balanced and well-dosaged fashion.This so far has been one of the most overlooked albums and it is a bit sad to see. I know lots of people would just love this album if they gave it a chance!I just hope this genius keeps making music for decades to come!

Not a bad album, but no songs really stood out to me. Their earlier albums were much more exciting and fun. Less of a tropical feel to this album and less experimentation.

Another great album! This one is definitely more upbeat than A Sleep & a Forgetting. It reminds me more of the earlier albums.

some good, some not so good

I wanted so badly for this to be a Unicorns record. It isn't. But I fell in love with it anyway, just for what it is. These dudes are so rad.My friend and I are trying to guess who's playing Big Ears in Knoxville in March. I'm hopeful for Islands.

Really enjoying this cd. The quirky tunes are right up my alley. Love it when a cd surprises me like this one did

Not legendary as Return to the Sea or Arm's Way is but a decent sequel to A Sleep & A Forgetting. Nick Diamond still has it.