Album of the Week: Islet – Illuminated People

Cardiff four-piece Islet have slowly but surely built up a profile over the last 18 months, courtesy of two acclaimed mini-albums, festival slots and a burgeoning reputation for unhinged live shows.

When a band becomes known for its on-stage mania, the challenge is always how to channel that energy into a record that is both coherent and exciting.

With Illuminated People, we’re pleased to report that Islet have pulled it off. Think what would happen if Can ever produced Slow Club or Broken Social Scene and that ought to give a fair approximation of what to expect here – both wilfully awkward and melodic, usually within the same bar.

The band have maintained their DIY ethos and refused to compromise on their principals. Kicking off an album with the nine minute sprawl that is Libra Man, hardly smacks of a band chasing the Yankee dollar, but even that feels like it’s merely building up to the pounding syths and hammering drums of This Fortune.

After the playful Entwined Pines, we strike gold dust. It’s What We Done Wrong that really lights up Illuminated People. Almost following convential song structure and with something that, with a bit of imagination, could even be described as a chorus. It’s a full-on pop song and in its searing instrumental outro, it’s easy to how that live reputation has become such a talking point.

At the other end of the scale is We Bow, as stripped back as Islet get. It’s simply main man Mark Thomas’ voice, an acosutic, light brushed drums and lady harmonies. And it’s bloody lovely too.

The second half of the album pulls back the wall of sound a little but Fillia stills ebbs and flows towards bursts of noise and album closer A Bear On His Own hits those ‘pop’ buttons we heard earlier on the album.

This isn’t technically a debut but as a first full length record, but it feels like this exciting band has made peace with the conflicting needs of doing exactly as they please and entertaining people.

We’re confident this will be  a huge year for Islet.

Illuminated People is out on Monday. We’d planned to use this space for an interview with the band – this will hopefully happen shortly!