Label: Emotional Interference
Released: 16th April 2021
Low Island’s debut album has been a long time coming. In their five-year career, the Oxford quartet have racked up fans with Radiohead’s Phil Selway (that’s the drummer, in case you didn’t know), alongside impressive sellout headline shows and festival slots, as well as gigging with Crystal Fighters.
‘If You Could Have It All Again’ half feels like an ode to the band’s beginnings, with the other half shooting for the stars. Take ‘What Do You Stand For’, which nods to 2019’s ‘Search Box’ in its satire swagger, not so much tongue in cheek but somewhat obtuse, teetering on the lines of arrogance. The more vulnerable moments on the record are refreshing then (as on the soaring ‘Feel Young Again’), adding a needed dose of humility.
Questionable lyricism aside, sonically, the album is impressive and defiant. It’s no question that Low Island are a band of incredibly gifted individuals who truly embrace the infinite possibilities of electronic music, switching seamlessly from far out experimental ambient moments (see opener ‘Hey Man’) to offbeat indietronica bangers that deliciously meld techno with krautrock. You can’t help but enjoy their attempt at a sexy slow jam ‘I Do It For You’ either.
But if you could have it all again, would you?
