Islands (The Mary Onettes album)

Islands is the second studio album from Swedish dream pop band the Mary Onettes. The album was released on 3 November 2009 in the United States, and a day later in Sweden.[1] The album had to be re-recorded from scratch after lead singer Philip Ekström stated on the band's official website, "...I basically lost every song I've ever recorded with the Mary Onettes. My hard drive with all my music was stolen in my car one fine afternoon in Stockholm, the very same fine afternoon we came home from our US tour, the very same day I was feeling thrilled to come home and start the process of finishing our new album. Of course I had made a backup copy on my computer at home. But for some reason a power failure in the building made that hard drive collapse too. Unbelievable. I was speechless for days."[2][3] The band played the Primavera Sound Festival in Spain in May 2008, and reconvened in the studio to start the recording process again in September.

Islands
Studio album by
The Mary Onettes
Released4 November 2009
RecordedHouse Arrest Studio, Gothenburg;
Foundland Studio, Jönköping
GenreDream pop, indie rock
Length42:22
LanguageEnglish
LabelLabrador (LAB125)
ProducerPhilip Ekström, Henrik Ekström
The Mary Onettes chronology
The Mary Onettes
(2007)		 Islands
(2009)		 Hit the Waves
(2013)
Singles from Islands
  1. "Dare"
    Released: 29 April 2009
  2. "Puzzles"
    Released: 30 September 2009
  3. "Once I Was Pretty"
    Released: 31 March 2010

The band's Dare EP was released in April 2009, intended as a sampler of the Islands album. It featured two album tracks ("Dare" and "God Knows I Had Plans") and an exclusive non-album track ("Kicks"). Ekström said of the album's name: "The title Islands came up because I see the tracks on the album as small islands in different shapes and forms where every song is like a record of it's [sic] very own. Johan on Labrador Records suggested the same title without having heard me mentioning the idea, so that was a coincidence too good not to pursue. The songs are almost too personal and I've had a hard time playing them for friends. It's like all I want to do is keep them to myself".[4]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubB[7]
Drowned in Sound6/10[8]
musicOMH[9]
Pitchfork6.7/10[10]
PopMatters[11]

Islands received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album holds a score of 66/100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Philip Ekström.

No.TitleLength
1."Puzzles"4:32
2."Dare"3:46
3."Once I Was Pretty"4:13
4."Cry for Love"3:58
5."The Disappearance of My Youth"3:55
6."God Knows I Had Plans"4:19
7."Symmetry"3:58
8."Century"4:37
9."Whatever Saves Me"3:55
10."Bricks"5:09

Release history
Country Date Label Format Catalogue #
United States 3 November 2009 Labrador Records CD LAB125
Sweden 4 November 2009
16 December 2009 LP (limited edition of 500 copies[12])

Credits
  • All songs produced and recorded by Philip Ekström and Henrik Ekström.
  • Recorded at the House Arrest Studio, Gothenburg, and Foundland Studio, Jönköping.
  • Strings on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10 by Karin Hagström and Lina Molander. Arranged by Henrik Ekström and Philip Ekström.
  • Backing vocals on "The Disappearance of My Youth" by Ebba Sahlin, Isa Almgren, Majja Sahlin, and Agnes Evertsson.
  • Backing vocals on "Bricks" by Sara Mårtensson and Hanna-Maria Backvall.
  • Mastered by Erik Broheden at Masters of Audio, except "Century" mastered by Björn Engelmann at Cutting Room Studios.
  • Photos by Henrik Mårtensson; artwork by Peter Eriksson.
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References
  1. Pitchfork: News in Brief: Public Enemy, Ponyiak, Pyramids With Nadja, The Mary Onettes (posted 6 October 2009)
  2. "The Mary Onettes - News (Feed)". Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  3. The Mary Onettes - News, dated March 22, 2009
  4. The Mary Onettes 'Islands' Due In November - StrangeGlue
  5. "Islands by The Mary Onettes Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  6. Sendra, Tim. "Review: Islands". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  7. Hawthorne, Marc. "Review: Islands". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  8. Potts, Lauren (January 26, 2010). "Album Review: The Mary Onettes - Islands". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  9. Soghomonian, Talia (January 25, 2010). "The Mary Onettes - Islands". musicOMH. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  10. Solarski, Matthew. "Album Reviews: The Mary Onettes: Islands". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  11. Kloke, Joshua (January 4, 2010). "The Mary Onettes: Islands". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  12. Mary Onettes, The - Islands (LP) at Discogs
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