Taking influence from bands such as Interpol, Maximo Park, Sonic Youth, Foals, and Bloc Party, Neon Islands’ Facebook page bills them as “a cry for hope in the middle of a dejected culture“. With a built-for-radio sound based heavily around huge, shimmering synth lines, muscular guitars, and anthemic choruses, it’s an apt description. I should also mention that they follow this with “before society crumbles, Neon Islands will get everyone dancing.” Again, I’ve had a snoop around on Spotify and it seems to check out.
Their latest single, Moon, is an indie rock beast that continues to build on an already impressive run of singles stretching back to 2018. Bursting straight from the blocks with tightly-wound electric guitar, huge drums, and the kind of mammoth-sounding synth lines last heard on the Killers’ Sam’s Town, it’s clear that Neon Islands are aiming to make good on that declaration to make everyone dance. It just so happens that society is kind of fucked at the moment too, so make of that what you will.
There’s a dynamic, laser-guided precision to the songwriting that seems designed to go straight for the jugular, so to speak, and lines like “I don’t know about you / Have you heard the news too? / It’s strange how we’re becoming strangers so soon” seem to hint at disconnection and breakdown in a way that avoids cliché. Wrapping everything up is an irresistible pop sheen that calls to mind Phoenix’s Bankrupt! – which is, you know, never a bad thing.
The short of it is that if you like melodic, anthemic indie rock with a bit of flair and an electronic edge, then Neon Islands are probably going to be right up your street. They’re a band that appear to be going from strength to strength too (check out previous singles Time and Luck), and with Moon they’ve raised an already high bar a teeny bit higher again.
A conversation with Neon Islands
Having spent some time listening through their back catalogue, I had the opportunity to send a few questions across to the band. I was interested to find out more about their influences and songwriting, as well as their recording practices. Of course, because we’re living in strange times, I also had to ask the inevitable Covid questions too…
(As ever with these things, my questions are in bold and the band’s responses in plain text).
• Your Spotify bio describes the band as a “shared shelter between four musicians from different countries who came together to craft electric and flourescent songs“. It’s far from the most original question, but could you introduce yourselves and elaborate a little on what you were doing before, and how you ended up together?
We are Carlos, Nico, Jamie and Sam. We met at university and we all come from different countries, which is one of our most unique things in my opinion. We have such a wide palette of influences that we like to bring together! We were so lucky to find each other so early on when we went to uni, I think we all met during freshers week (probably at night after having had a few glasses of water…)
• The new single sounds pretty massive, with the lean guitar sound and the huge synths. If I had to look for similarities, I think stuff like Phoenix, the Strokes and the Killers’ earlier stuff definitely jumps out. Forgive me if those references are quite broad, but I was wondering who you’d cite as major influences?
I mean, you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head there. We absolutely love those bands, especially The Strokes (and Phoenix of course, I’m personally OBSESSED with the production of their albums). We love loads of bands from the early 2000’s (Interpol, The National, Foals, LCD Soundsystem…) but also some older acts that we always take reference points from, like Talking Heads and David Bowie. We are also big current music lovers, and are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting bands. We’ve been pretty obsessed with Do Nothing, Clairo, Fene Lilly, Sports Team…
Listening through your singles, there’s quite a range of stuff there. Looking at a track like Luck, there’s so much going on, loads of different ideas thrown in the mix, and I like the way that it seems to move through all of these disparate sections. Thinking about the diverse nature of the singles got me wondering how the writing works in the band. For example, do you tend to write together or are you more democratic in approach?
It’s funny you mention about Luck, because the idea for that track came from a little phase I had with surrealism and the surrealist manifesto by André Breton – the idea was to throw literally everything we could find in the mix, following Breton’s automatic writing idea, but of course keeping the choruses big and catchy. So yeah, as you can imagine from that, the writing is quite different for each song, and that’s what keeps it interesting. Sometimes we’ll jam around an idea or a concept in the rehearsal room and then I’ll go home to write lyrics to it, and sometimes someone will bring a more formed and finished idea. Or sometimes we’ll come up with a full story lyric-wise and we’ll make the music for it. I like the fact that we don’t really have a system in place. Sometimes it can make writing a bit painful, but it definitely keeps it fresh and avoids too much repetition.
• I read that you’ve worked a bit with Liam Nolan at Metropolis. He’s somebody with quite the pedigree – working with a range of massive artists. How did your paths cross, and what do you think a producer such as him brings to your sound?
We had the honour to work with Liam in the production of ‘Luck’. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the opportunity to have a session with him came about. It was such an incredible session – he just made us feel so comfortable from the start and helped us get our live sound come across so well. We are a live band after all, and I think he was the one who made it clear for us that we had to come across as such on record. For ‘Moon’ we went back to Numen Studios, which is run by one of our best mates, and that also had incredible pros. When you get rid of the high time pressure that comes with working in a big studio like Metropolis, suddenly the ideas flow in a more relaxed way and there’s more time to try out different things. Some don’t work, and some do!
• You guys seem to be following a path of steadily releasing singles. Is this something you’ve consciously decided to do, or is there a plan to put out an EP or an album? I guess I’m kinda asking whether you prefer the notion of releasing regularly rather than waiting and putting out a whole body of work?
I think all artists would rather release a whole body of work, just because it makes the songs feel like a part of something bigger, something that makes artistic sense, with a unique artistic identity. However, putting out singles is an easy way to try things out and to keep our fanbase engaged constantly. But definitely keep your eyes peeled for what’s coming in the next few months…
• How have you found the last six months or so, from a creative perspective?
To be honest, in my opinion it has been 50% great, 50% really bad. Spending so much time at home really gave us time to write songs, and over the summer we made so many new demos that we hope to record very soon. On the other hand, you need life experiences to write about. And there’s only so many songs you can write about how sad you are stuck inside… there’s also the fact that we couldn’t really get together to rehearse or to play live. That was really tough, cause we really missed each other!
• Obviously the industry has taken a massive hit and things look unlikely to get back to ‘normal’ anytime soon. What’s your take on everything that’s happening – especially with the lack of support for the live sector – but also, has it drastically changed your plans for the future?
I think we need to adapt. There’s no point in talking about how bad covid-19 is for music everyday. We all know it’s going to be difficult, but I’d rather do something about it than just complain. Of course our plans have changed. We are a live band by nature, we belong on a stage, and we miss playing shows so much. But luckily, we live in a time when we can still write, record and release music! So that’s what we intend to do until this is all over.
• What does ‘success’ look like to you?
Sharing a stage with Alex Turner – I can quit music after that! I’m kidding. I think for us success looks like the ability of having a sustainable career playing our music and expressing ourselves through our form of art. Of course we have dreams of being the next big thing, the next big guitar band, the next festival headliner. But we are quite down to earth in that sense, and we just want to be able to keep doing this and to be the best we can be at it. And of course, enjoying the ride as much as we can, because music should be fun! Otherwise, what’s the point?
• What’s next for Neon Islands?
More music, and hopefully back with our fans, friends and families in the venues we love!
You can find Neon Islands on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
I stood up & I said yeah 
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