Villages' sophomore album "Dark Island" captures the spirit of Cape Breton
WRITTEN BY: katie gordon // THE BOOM AT NOON
Photo: Villages (Matt Horseman)
Cape Breton is known for its scenic beauty and rich Celtic music, and Villages is one of the bands that embody this spirit. Their sophomore album, Dark Island, is a testament to their musical prowess, blending traditional Celtic sounds with modern influences to capture the energy of their live performances.
The band's origins can be traced back to their high school days, when Matt Ellis, Travis Ellis, Jon Pearo, and Archie Rankin started playing together as indie-rock band, Mardeen, before forming Villages and switching up their sound to create music inspired by their Cape Breton roots. As Matt Ellis puts it, "It's just kind of in our blood because we're from there."
Dark Island features 11 tracks, with two singles, Love Will Live On and Play the Fiddle All Night, released ahead of the album. The latter almost didn't make the cut because it was written just days before entering the studio. “We had a strong feeling about the song and were thinking, ‘I don't know if we should wait till the next one,” said Matt. “We decided to throw it out there and it came together in 25 minutes. It was a fun experience because we just let the song be what it was and everything clicked.”
That song, along with many others on the new album, despite being upbeat, has darker themes. Even the album title, Dark Island, is inspired by a fiddle tune often played at funerals. “It’s an air that we’re familiar with; it’s beautiful,” said Matt. “It wasn’t until after we recorded the record that we found out that there were words written to accompany the tune,” he said. The poem, much like the songs featured on the album, has many darker underlying themes, like the inevitability of the end of your life. “That is a huge theme of the poem and it was a thread that ran through all the songs on the record,” he added. “It was a coincidence too big to ignore, so we decided to call the album Dark Island.”
The album was recorded in just eight days at Joel Plaskett’s Fang Recording in Dartmouth. The band called in JUNO award-winning composer and soundscapist, Joshua Van Tassel, who got the band to record live off the floor in three takes or less, a new recording experience for the band. “Josh would always say that he loves capturing moments. I don't think we could go back to how we used to record. We were just together in a room. And sometimes, you wouldn't be sure if it was recording or if maybe it was just a test run. It killed a lot of pressure,” said Matt. “It made it fun for us to play the tunes together,” he added.
For the members of Villages, the album is a love letter to their home and a testament to their evolution as a band. "We're never trying to write the same record,” said Matt. “We always hope that we're pushing it forward and that we're evolving ourselves and our sound. So we can't wait to get it out there and for people to hear it. We’re very proud of it.”
On March 2, Villages will embark on a 10-stop tour, which includes stops in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Ontario. “We love being on the road,” Matt adds. “Hopefully, we're taking Cape Breton Island on the road with us and showing people that aren't familiar with the island what it's like, what the people are like and what the sound is like.”
Dark Island is now available for purchase, and tickets are still available for their show at The Marquee on March 10.
