The isle in question is Montreal. Tommy Crane is from Montreal, so he knows it well, but Binney, who is from Los Angeles, appreciates it as a frequent visitor, accustomed as he is to collaborating with a bunch of icons from our city’s indie/underground scene. Regardless, The Isle is a beautiful tribute to Montreal through tracks that flirt with jazz, pop, ambient, floating electronica, and everything queer in between, on tracks like “The Plateau,” “Lazy Day Jarry,” “Canal Moms,” or “Snow in Verdun.” While both artists are capable of shredding eardrums with extreme decibels, here they are essentially navigating calm waters, sometimes with a easy-going feel but often contemplative. As if Montreal were inviting them to draw from their most relaxed emotions and their impressions that are more poetic than ecstatic.
Binney and Crane are accompanied here and there by Dave Gossage on flutes, Levi Dover and Jordan Brooks on bass, Parker Shper on piano and keyboards, and Thomas Carbou on guitar. Logan Kane, a friend of Binney’s on bass, also joins him from Los Angeles. The album was recorded, produced, and artfully mixed at Studio Mixart by Warren Spicer (Plants and Animals, Unessential Oils) and Gwendoline Dumontet.
All this to say that it’s solid stuff, to be consumed without reservation during your daytime and nighttime strolls through the streets of our extraordinary island/city.
