Very Early Candidate For Album Of The Year!

Perhaps there's something in the water in Canada. From Neil Young to Godspeed You Black Emperor!, music from America's sometimes distant cousin has had both a musical disregard for what has gone before and a genuinely epic scale, in all seriousness, almost certainly inspired by the expanse of the landscape.

Broken Islands follow this template and then some. Primal screams from the heart are the order of the day, whilst the heady stew of fuzzed-out guitars and shimmering keyboards add a real depth to their sound. Rachelle Boily’s powerful vocals are both sweet and savage, in particular on the tracks "Crown" and opener, "No-one Left to Kill".

The LP splits the tracks across each side along both English and French language lyrics - again, this lends itself an unconventional, rather alien edge, which fits their music beautifully. Closer, "Til I Sleep" has a far drowsier sound which sees the best they've created retreat to its cave. Truly, you feel as a listener you've been through the wars experiencing this album. You may emerge battered and bruised but it's a small price to pay for such sonic wonder.

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