This is what you would call a good news day for London trio Island of Love. They are the first UK signing of Jack White’s Third Man London label and announce their debut album Island of Love set for release on 12 May. It follows last years EP Songs of Love. They also release the double A single ‘Grow’ / ‘Blues 2000’ and its a favourite to play live, running the two tracks one after another so it made sense to release as a double A single. Guitarist and vocalist Karim Newble had the following to say about the track:
“‘Grow’ was originally written by me and Linus at my mum’s house. It was probably the first song we ever wrote together, and maybe the most positive song on the Promo Tape? I guess a lot of the lyrics were written with the intention of making each other laugh. The choruses preach typical self-help mantras, and all the verses are filled with nonsense about getting high and listening to Johnny Cash. We fleshed it out fully as a band in 2021 and played it at almost every show we’ve ever done, it has been a band favourite for a while.
‘Blues 2000’ was formed out of an old riff that we could never turn into a real song, Linus started shredding over it and we moulded it into some ridiculous jam – we’d always play it immediately after ‘Grow’ cause they’re in the same tuning and just bridge it with the Eastenders drum fill. The scream in the middle is done by our friend Joey Drake who fronts a crazy hardcore band called Splitknuckle, we had him say the lyrics to ‘These Words’ by Natasha Bedingfield cause it kind of matched up.”
Island of Love were invited to play The Blue Basement venue in Third Man Records – which opened in September 2021 in London as the third Third Man store after Nashville and Detroit. They were signed immediately after the gig and were second only to Jack White himself to play the room. Fun Fact: it was still so new the drummer even left with paint on his back from where he’d been pressed up against the wall playing! With that on-the-spot offer, from Third Man co-founder and owner Ben Swank, they became the first band signed to Third Man London.
The band met via the London hardcore punk scene while playing in other bands, and from day one, were rooted in the principles, ethos and mentality of DIY culture. Its going to be intriguing hear the self-titled debut album.
Island of Love Tour Dates
13th April – VOL, Barcelona, ES
14th April – Le Ravelin, Toulouse, FR
15th April – Chinastraat, Ghent, BE
18th April – Vera, Groningen, NL
19th April – Cinetol, Amsterdam, NL
20th April – Autobahn, Berlin, DE
21st April – Ada, Warsaw, PL
25th April – Cafe XXE, Fribourg, CH
27th April – L’Intermediaire, Marseille, FR
29th April – Gold Sounds Festival, Leeds, UK
13th May – Rough Trade East, London, UK
For more information on Island of Love please check out their facebook and bandcamp.
