Jack White opened his first UK Third Man Records store in the heart of Soho back in September 2021. As well as being a vinyl junkie’s wet dream, Third Man London is also a label and their first signing is intrepid new indie quartet Island of Love.
The first fruits of the collaboration between the two will be the Songs of Love EP, which will be released digitally on March 18, 2022, followed by a physical release in the form of a limited edition 7″ landing July 1st.
Originally called ‘Love Island’ – until “Linus didn’t make the audition process so we jumbled it around” or, possibly, for legal reasons – Third Man London’s first signing settled instead on “Island of Love.“
The band; Karim, Linus, Daniel and Jimmy possess a deep song writing talent and clearly influenced by the feedback-fueled antics of early 90s indy royalty such as Dinosaur Jnr and Teenage Fanclub. To put it into context, Third Man co-founder and owner Ben Swank presented an offer approximately thirty seconds after they played the opening weekend of Third Man’s new Soho premises… to the extent that drummer Jimmy left the stage with paint up his back!
Bonded by playing in various punk, hardcore and metal bands in their hometown of London, Island of Love’s now double frontmen, Linus and Karim, would write and share demos between their family homes. The lo-fi, fuzzy fruits of these sessions melded into 2020’s now much sought after seven song Promo Tape.
Now, no longer a bedroom project, the four-piece’s first collaboration with Third Man is the EP Songs of Love: twelve minutes of adrenaline, awash with guitar distortion, Linus and Karim’s dark harmonies and contemplative lyrics beyond their teenage years.
The band collectively had the following to say about “Songs Of Love” and their signing to Third Man Records:
“Songs of Love was a collage of pretty wacky riffs Karim would play as guitar warmups until writing with the full band.
Dealing with feelings of inadequacy, the lyrics shine a light on a way most of us felt before picking up an instrument, and the voice it’s since been able to give us. To have Third Man show an interest has been a surreal privilege to say the least.”
Out March digitally and July 1st on super-limited 7″ vinyl, this special release is sure to go down in both the TMR history books as well as mosh pits nationwide.