| Return to the Sea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 April 2006 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, indie pop | |||
| Length | 55:45 | |||
| Label | Equator Records | |||
| Producer | Islands • Mark Lawson | |||
| Islands chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Return to the Sea | ||||
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Return to the Sea is the first studio album by Islands. It was released by Equator Records on 4 April 2006. [1] "Rough Gem" was released as a single from the album. [2] The remastered version of the album was released on 11 November 2016. [3] [4]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| The A.V. Club | B+ [7] |
| Cokemachineglow | 80/100 [8] |
| Now | 3/5 [9] |
| Pitchfork | 8.4/10 [10] |
| PopMatters |   [1] |
| Prefix | 8.0/10 [11] |
| Stylus Magazine | B [12] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80 based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [5]
Tim Sendra of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying: "On their debut record, Return to the Sea, Montreal's Islands have crafted a rich, exciting, and emotionally deep sounding album that carries on the freewheeling spirit and sound of the Unicorns as well as that of the Elephant 6 bands of the late '90s." [6] John Motley of Pitchfork gave the album an 8.4 out of 10, calling it "a sprawling, gorgeous collection of pop songs that draws from disparate sources such as calypso, country, and hip-hop." [10]
No Ripchord placed it at number 10 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2006" list. [13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Swans (Life After Death)" | 9:31 |
| 2. | "Humans" | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby" | 2:31 |
| 4. | "Rough Gem" | 3:36 |
| 5. | "Tsuxiit" | 3:05 |
| 6. | "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" | 3:56 |
| 7. | "Jogging Gorgeous Summer" | 2:48 |
| 8. | "Volcanoes" | 5:26 |
| 9. | "If" | 4:31 |
| 10. | "Ones" | 5:40 |
| 11. | "Renaud" (hidden track) | 16:20/9:38 |
Credits adapted from liner notes.
Musicians
Technical personnel
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