On June 21st, Islands will release their new album. What Occurs, the tenth album in the project’s 18-year history, marks a significant shift, stripping away the detailed ornamentation from previous outings for something much more immediate, raw and natural. With an intent to capture the raw spontaneity from a band that has played together for a decade, Thorburn and co. recorded the songs live in the room, all together, with guitar amps and vocal mics bleeding into one another on multiple occasions. Though currently based in Los Angeles, Thorburn was born and raised on Vancouver Island, and though his first band The Unicorns began in the small island town of Campbell River, this is his first record made there. Produced by the band in the summer of 2023, and mixed by Colin Stewart (The New Pornographers, Destroyer ) in the fall of 2023, this is the only Canadian-made Islands record since the 2006 debut, Return to the Sea (10th Anniversary Remaster).