Since first taking a stab at solo work with the Bandcamp-released I Am An Attic, Islands frontman Nick Diamonds (real name: Nick Thorburn) has explored some dark territory. Collaborating with members of Man Man and The Shins on the 2011 debut of Mister Heavenly, he helped concoct a grim, menacing take on early rock ’n’ roll that the group called “doom-wop.” Over the next two years, he used his main band’s records to work through the anguish and regret of his divorce. Last year, he crafted sets of bleak soundscapes for the hit podcast Serial.
Diamonds’ sophomore release, City Of Quartz, is an electrifying awakening from all this foreboding and desolation. Although a significant part of the album is defined by brooding electronica, he grafts on layers of vibrant melodies and quirky psychedelics to turn the IDM slow-burners into loose, expansive synth-pop jams. Nowhere is this more evident than on “The Sting,” which glides through the shadows with slinky, throbbing bass and a stuttering guitar line until breaking into a bright, soaring outro.
The record’s pinnacle of playfulness is “Bohemian Groove,” a bouncing, sunny cut of tropic-pop that sprinkles bubbling keyboard blips and warped smears into a Caribbean style that Islands previously tinkered with on its 2006 debut. With “Witch Window,” a colorful swirl of ascending synths, shimmering guitars, and breezy chants of “c’mon now,” the tracks set an angst-free contrast to the ominous vibes and downcast ruminations on loneliness elsewhere on the record. That diversity of emotions and atmospheres—employed in top-notch songwriting throughout—makes City Of Quartz a multifaceted success. In capturing both Diamonds’ lingering malaise and a regained sense of carefree abandon, the album melds the sophisticated melancholy compositions of his recent career with whimsical experimentation.