“I woke up thirsty on an island in the sea.” It seems as if, in those lyrics, the Unicorns foreshadowed the creation of their successor band, the Islands.

After the breakup of the Unicorns, band members Nicholas Diamonds (Nicholas Thornburn) and J’aime Tambour (Jaimie Thompson) continued to collaborate on indie rock projects influenced by hip-hop—something along the lines of indie pop. They formed the Islands and leaked two songs on their Web site to garner the attention of the Unicorns’ fans.

Both of the songs retained the heavy use of synthetic sounds and self-referencing goofy lyrics characteristic of the Unicorns. But when the two came out and said the upcoming album, “Return to Sea,” was inspired by Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” a huge jump from the Unicorns to say the very least, it was difficult to say in what direction the Islands were heading.

On the first track of the album, “Swans (Life After Death),” the group does deliver. Opening with guitar strumming, the song is propelled into motion by the steady chords of the keyboards and the buildup of verse supported by Diamond’s slightly off-key vocals until coming to a straight rock-out finale. Instead of coming directly back to the main melody, there are subtle twists and turns that keep the song fresh.
The quirky lyrics are still reminiscent of the Unicorns. In “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby,” without a doubt the set’s catchiest song, the bouncy instrumentation is juxtaposed with slightly morbid lyrics recalling “the sleek sleek skeleton” made up of “brittle little bones.”

As if the group is unwilling to be predictable, “Where There’s a Will There’s A Whalebone” kicks off with a psychedelic vibe, built from the “oos” in the background and the dissonance created by the synthesizer baseline, before moving into a ‘stream of consciousness’ rap-off between two guys that don’t seem to have rapped much before. With the variety of styles incorporated into the album, it’s no surprise to hear the band combining country and ‘calypso reggae’ in “Jogging Gorgeous Summer.”

There are still the silly lyrics and buzzing synchs, but with some horns, reeds, strings and even the use of the steelpan drum, the instrumentation seems to be used as a means of exploring the possibilities of the project. The ideas are disjointed at times, with many songs going off on musical tangents. Diamonds and Tambour have taken steps to musical self-actualization. Unlike the inane albums that made the Unicorns fun to listen to, this album is enjoyable because of its willingness to explore the world beyond the island.