Pitchfork: Islands (ex-Unicorns) Reveal Debut Album Tracklist

Islands (ex-Unicorns) Reveal Debut Album Tracklist

So exactly one day after we lampooned the sketchy details surrounding Nick Diamonds' and J'aime Tambeur's post-Unicorns project, Islands, a not-so-sketchy email arrived in my inbox from Diamonds himself. It contained a finalized tracklist for Islands' debut album, as well as a partial list of musicians involved in the project. No jokes, no confusion. In yo face, P-fork!

As previously reported, the album is called Return to the Sea and will be released in the UK sometime in January via Rough Trade. There has been no formal announcement regarding a North American deal yet, although Rough Trade is also reportedly in the running. But no matter the imprint, here are the songs on the Little Mermaid-biting disc:

01 Swans (Life After Death)
02 Humans
03 Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby
04 Rough Gem
05 Tsuxiit
06 Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone
07 Jogging Gorgeous Summer
08 Volcanoes
09 If
10 Ones

Diamonds has said in recent months that Return to the Sea will include guest contributions from Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire and Belle Orchestre. While we can't confirm those yet, Diamonds told Pitchfork that the Islands touring band includes himself on vocals, piano, guitar and synth, Tambeur on drums, Jim Guthrie of Royal City on guitar and vocals, Mike Feuerstack of Wooden Stars on lap steel and percussion, Patrick Gregoire on guitar, percussion, and bass clarinet, Patrice Agbokou on five-stringed bass, Sebastian Chow on violin, piano, and recorder, and Alex Chow ("no relation") on violin and piano. Rappers Subtitle and Busdriver drop by "when the mood strikes" and "when he sees fit," respectively, according to Diamonds.

As if that wasn't enough, the list isn't anywhere near complete, "We'll top out at 30, I imagine," Diamond said, before concluding the email with the following declaration: "2006: This will be our year." O Canada!

In the meantime, here are Islands' current tour dates, which we showed you, um, three days ago:

12-01 Toronto, Ontario - Drake Hotel Underground
12-02 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen *
12-03 Dayton, OH - Elbo's $
12-04 Oberlin, OH - Oberlin College
12-05 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church #
12-06 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
12-07 Boston, MA - YWCA

* with Make Believe, Locks
$ with the Human Reunion
# with the A-Sides