A Sleep & a Forgetting

This article is about the Islands album. For the short story, see A Sleep and a Forgetting.

A Sleep & a Forgetting
Studio album by Islands
Released	February 14, 2012 (2012-02-14)
Recorded	2011
Genre	Indie rock
Length	37:43
Label	ANTI-
Producer	Nick Diamonds Evan Gordon
Islands chronology
Vapours (2009) A Sleep & a Forgetting (2012) Ski Mask (2013)

A Sleep & a Forgetting is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Islands. It was released on February 14, 2012 via ANTI-. Production was handled by members Nick "Diamonds" Thorburn and Evan Gordon. The album peaked at number 14 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Beats Per Minute	73/100% [3]
Now	[4]
Paste	7.5/10 [5]
Pitchfork	7.9/10 [6]
PopMatters	7/10 [7]
Prefix	8/10 [8]
Slant	[9]
Spectrum Culture	[10]
Sputnikmusic	3.5/10 [11]

A Sleep & a Forgetting was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69 based on fifteen reviews. ^[1]

Jen Kessler of Prefix praised the work, stating: "Thorburn anchors every note, every contribution with a personal outpouring of emotion and heartbreak, the likes of which we've never seen from him before". ^[8] Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork called the album "the most cohesive-- and, possibly, the out-and-out strongest-- Islands record yet". ^[6] Chris Brancato of Beats Per Minute noted that "while A Sleep & A Forgetting is a bold new statement for the band, the album occasionally treads on the mundane level, due to its similarly-orchestrated tracks". ^[3] AllMusic's Tim Sendra resumed: "anyone with a little distance from their own pain will find much to admire in the honesty and craft of the album". ^[2] Alexander Heigl of PopMatters concluded that "simplicity is A Sleep's best value". ^[7] Sputnikmusic's emeritus Rudy K. wrote: "[maybe for] the first time, A Sleep And A Forgetting gets at the heart of an artist who, over years of project changes and name switches, has remained frustratingly opaque". ^[11]

In mixed reviews, Benjamin Boles of NOW Toronto stated: "it might be an imperfect stepping stone, but the staircase he's climbing here shows great promise". ^[4] Jesse Cataldo of Slant described the album as "mildly composed, generally genial pop, with a few good hooks and ideas scattered throughout". ^[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nicholas Thorburn.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"In a Dream It Seemed Real"	3:21
2.	"This Is Not a Song"	3:55
3.	"Never Go Solo"	4:45
4.	"No Crying"	3:05
5.	"Hallways"	2:53
6.	"Can't Feel My Face"	2:46
7.	"Lonely Love"	3:40
8.	"Oh Maria"	4:07
9.	"Cold Again"	3:19
10.	"Don't I Love You"	3:20
11.	"Same Thing"	2:32
Total length:		37:43

Personnel

• Nicholas "Nick Diamonds" Thorburn – lyrics, vocals, guitar (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7-11), piano (tracks: 2, 3, 5), baritone guitar (track 2), mellotron (tracks: 3, 5), percussion (track 5), Farfisa organ (track 6), synthesizer (track 10), voce horn (track 11), producer, art direction, drawings, layout
• Geordie Gordon – vocals (tracks: 6, 9), Wurlitzer piano & Casiotone organ (track 1), piano (tracks: 1, 5, 7-9), violin (tracks: 1, 2), guitar (tracks: 2-4, 7), Hammond C3 organ (tracks: 2, 11), percussion (track 5), mellotron (tracks: 7, 9-11)
• Evan Gordon – bass (tracks: 1-4, 6-12), guitar & synthesizer (track 5), harpsichord (track 9), Contraire piano (track 10), drum machine (track 11), producer
• Luc Laurent – drums (tracks: 1, 2, 4-11), percussion (tracks: 1-7, 9, 11)
• Celso Estrada – engineering
• Dave Trumfio – engineering
• Rob Schnapf – mixing
• Mark Chalecki – mastering
• Peter Watkins – cover photo
• Trevor Hernandez – art direction, layout

References

1. "Critic Reviews for A Sleep & a Forgetting - Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
2. Sendra, Tim. "A Sleep & A Forgetting - Islands | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
3. Brancato, Chris (February 13, 2012). "Album Review: Islands – A Sleep & A Forgetting". Beats Per Minute . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
4. Boles, Benjamin (February 16, 2012). "Islands - A Sleep & A Forgetting | NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto . Vol. 31, no. 25. Retrieved October 9, 2012– via Wayback Machine.
5. Kszystyniak, Andrea (February 15, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting". Paste Magazine . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
6. Fitzmaurice, Larry (February 15, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & a Forgetting". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
7. Heigl, Alexander (February 28, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting » PopMatters". PopMatters . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
8. Kessler, Jen (February 22, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting | Prefix". Prefixmag. Retrieved February 25, 2012– via Wayback Machine.
9. Cataldo, Jesse (February 12, 2012). "Review: Islands, A Sleep & a Forgetting". Slant Magazine . Retrieved April 30, 2025.
10. Hanover, Nick (February 27, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
11. K., Rudy (February 15, 2012). "Islands - A Sleep and a Forgetting (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved April 30, 2025.

External links

• Islands – A Sleep & A Forgetting at Discogs (list of releases)