And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs. Intriguing title! It belongs to the new album from Islands, Nick Thorburn’s long-running indie-pop project. The follow up to 2021’s Islomania is dropping in August, and its lead single “Life’s A Joke” has arrived today.

The album evolved out of instrumentals Thorburn originally constructed for other artists during a time when he had no intention of making Islands music, including some that became collaborations with rapper Fat Tony. Eventually Thorburn started to notice spots where he wanted to slide in a lyric, and suddenly he had a bunch of Islands songs. He did some work with producers Chris Coady and Mike Stroud, but the bulk of it was produced by Patrick Ford. Thorburn’s mood was quite dark:

I was interested in the idea of regression. Evolution in the opposite direction, you know? We think of fish evolving by growing legs — walking out of the primordial swamp towards an enlightened existence — but what if things went the other way? What if a four legged dolphin took one look around, saw what humans had done, and said “fuck it, I’m going back in”?

And actually, the title itself came from a conversation I overheard between a couple of strange men in a friend’s backyard in Los Angeles, one of whom insisted that dolphins did in fact evolve to have legs at one point, but very quickly returned to the ocean, going back the other way.

“Life’s A Joke” is a complex yet smooth midtempo track, putting a melancholy spin on what might otherwise pass for chipper sounds. “One day you’re up, the next day you lay down and croak,” Thorburn sings. “You said life’s a gas, but I say life’s a joke.” Listen below via Malt Disney’s music video for the song.

TOUR DATES:
9/12 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
9/13 Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
9/15 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
9/16 Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room
9/17 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
9/19 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
9/20 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
9/21 Washington, DC @ Songbyrd Music House
9/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
9/23 New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
9/24 Medford, MA @ Deep Cuts
9/25 Portland, ME @ SPACE
9/27 Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal
9/28 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
9/29 Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag
9/30 Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
10/1 St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
10/3 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
10/4 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/5 Boise, ID @ The Olympic
10/7 Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
10/8 Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
10/9 Portland, OR @ The Get Down
10/11 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
10/13 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs is out 8/25 via ELF.