Coming from Southern Tasmania, Australia is the six-piece indie rock/pop group known as Little Island. Planting their roots during their high school years and as regular buskers on street corners, the band has released their debut EP Different Days.The recording was done in a small chapel studio by Tony Sayer, who also has worked with other notable Tasmanian acts such as Jensen and Empire Park. According to the band, they didn’t intend to record songs that were interconnected or had a similar theme, but somehow nostalgia and shifting into a different phase in life seemed to be the underlining narrative with most of their songs. And for fans of U2, when they experimented with the American sounds of the west during their Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum periods, Little Island does a live version of Van Diemen’s Land one of the very few songs U2’s guitarist The Edge sang the words to.
The opener “Leave This Town” is spacious with a soundscape feel and a soothing progression. The drums are big and commanding; the vocal harmonies flawless. The guitar melody is echoing and gorgeous and really adds to the song’s ambient/soundscape style. I really connected with the last two lines of the song, which sums up the song’s main theme of restlessness – “There’s no way that I could ever leave this town / But I can’t stand it here anymore.” “Everyday” offers up a bouncing, happy rhythm with the two lead vocalists, Abe Parsons and William Graddon, switching back and forth singing. Lyrically, this tune is about change and nothing being the same as it once was when you were a kid. It’s about getting older and being baffled at how everything in life seems different. “Hazy” features another bouncing, light rhythm, almost like lounge jazz and the lighter pop of the early ‘80s. The words seem to be about making a decision or a set of decisions that could make or break where you end up in the next 20 years. But at the same time, just trying to live one day at a time under the pressures of “adulting." “Tell Me” is a really sweet-sounding song in the way it’s musically arranged and with its main melody. It has a fresh style that I keep hearing from time to time with other newer bands of today, but with ‘70s soft rock sensibilities. “Beneath the Window” has that similar soft rock style and in my view, consistent with the big, open sound of the drums like on the first song. But what sets this tune apart was the keyboard/organ solo, vocal harmonies and bold guitar solo at the end lending to a more soulful, blues like number. This one was definitely a favorite. Another favorite was the band’s cover of U2’s “Van Diemen’s Land” not just because I’m a huge U2 fan, but also because the way Little Island made this song their own, sounding much different from the stripped-down version The Edge sung. The vocal harmonies, drums and guitar solo were very moving and a joy to listen to. You can look up a whole bunch of history about Van Diemen’s Land (which was the former name of the Australian state of Tasmania) on the web. Overall, Little Island’s Different Days offers a little bit of everything, and I sense this band’s talent and potential will suit them well in the coming years.
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