London four-piece ISLAND return with their new single “Octopus” via Frenchkiss Records.  Recorded in semi-locked down London last summer, ISLAND’s new single sees the band relinquish their traditional self-production duties to collaborate with producer Mikko Gordon (Thom Yorke). The result is a single that sees the band experimenting with more complex production and introducing new textures, instrumentation and recording techniques to expand and further hone in on a sound that has been theirs since their inception. 

Speaking about the single the band says, “‘Octopus’ describes the feeling of looking back on rebellious teenage years from a time where an impulse to cause trouble has been replaced with new sentiments. It’s about the conflict felt as a musician between wanting to grow older and wiser and wanting to stay young, and it asks if we as a world are only interested in stories, and whether normality is something to be desired. A world in which you might be persuaded to change yourself to fit in, like an octopus changes colour to adapt to its surroundings. The song ends by flirting with the idea of reverting back to old ways, and getting back to making trouble.”

“Octopus” is the follow up to the band’s 2019 EP When We’re Still and 2018 debut album Feels Like Air which saw them receive world-wide critical acclaim racking up millions of plays across Spotify. Before the pandemic hit, ISLAND had also firmly established themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting live bands having toured across the US, UK, and Europe including stops at SXSW, Reading Festival, Bastille Sound, Truck Festival and TRNSMT.

While it’s subject matter might be looking back to the past, ISLAND’s new single is a statement of intent that will find many looking forward to what is yet to come.