Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 8, 2026

A Sleep & a Forgetting

A Sleep & a Forgetting is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Islands. It was released on February 14, 2012, via ANTI-. Production was handled by members Nick "Diamonds" Thorburn and Evan Gordon. The album peaked at number 14 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States.

Last revised
Jul 8, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
774 w
Citations
20
Source
Wikipedia ↗
A Sleep & a Forgetting
Studio album by
Islands
ReleasedFebruary 14, 2012 (2012-02-14)
Recorded2011
GenreIndie rock
Length37:43
LabelANTI-
Producer
Islands chronology
Vapours
(2009) 		A Sleep & a Forgetting
(2012) 		Ski Mask
(2013)

A Sleep & a Forgetting is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Islands. It was released on February 14, 2012, via ANTI-. Production was handled by members Nick "Diamonds" Thorburn and Evan Gordon. The album peaked at number 14 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/1001
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarHalf star2
Beats Per Minute73/100%3
NowStarStarStar4
Paste7.5/105
Pitchfork7.9/106
PopMatters7/107
Prefix8/108
SlantStarStarHalf star9
Spectrum CultureStarStarHalf star10
Sputnikmusic3.5/1011

A Sleep & a Forgetting was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69 based on fifteen reviews.1

Jen Kessler of Prefix praised the work, stating: "Thorburn anchors every note, every contribution with a personal outpouring of emotion and heartbreak, the likes of which we've never seen from him before".8 Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork called the album "the most cohesive-- and, possibly, the out-and-out strongest-- Islands record yet".6 Chris Brancato of Beats Per Minute noted that "while A Sleep & A Forgetting is a bold new statement for the band, the album occasionally treads on the mundane level, due to its similarly-orchestrated tracks".3 AllMusic's Tim Sendra resumed: "anyone with a little distance from their own pain will find much to admire in the honesty and craft of the album".2 Alexander Heigl of PopMatters concluded that "simplicity is A Sleep's best value".7 Sputnikmusic's emeritus Rudy K. wrote: "[maybe for] the first time, A Sleep And A Forgetting gets at the heart of an artist who, over years of project changes and name switches, has remained frustratingly opaque".11

In mixed reviews, Benjamin Boles of NOW Toronto stated: "it might be an imperfect stepping stone, but the staircase he's climbing here shows great promise".4 Jesse Cataldo of Slant described the album as "mildly composed, generally genial pop, with a few good hooks and ideas scattered throughout".9

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nicholas Thorburn.

No.TitleLength
1."In a Dream It Seemed Real"3:21
2."This Is Not a Song"3:55
3."Never Go Solo"4:45
4."No Crying"3:05
5."Hallways"2:53
6."Can't Feel My Face"2:46
7."Lonely Love"3:40
8."Oh Maria"4:07
9."Cold Again"3:19
10."Don't I Love You"3:20
11."Same Thing"2:32
Total length:37:43

Personnel

  • Nicholas "Nick Diamonds" Thorburn – lyrics, vocals, guitar (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7–11), piano (tracks: 2, 3, 5), baritone guitar (track 2), mellotron (tracks: 3, 5), percussion (track 5), Farfisa organ (track 6), synthesizer (track 10), voce horn (track 11), producer, art direction, drawings, layout
  • Geordie Gordon – vocals (tracks: 6, 9), Wurlitzer piano & Casiotone organ (track 1), piano (tracks: 1, 5, 7–9), violin (tracks: 1, 2), guitar (tracks: 2–4, 7), Hammond C3 organ (tracks: 2, 11), percussion (track 5), mellotron (tracks: 7, 9–11)
  • Evan Gordon – bass (tracks: 1–4, 6–12), guitar & synthesizer (track 5), harpsichord (track 9), Contraire piano (track 10), drum machine (track 11), producer
  • Luc Laurent – drums (tracks: 1, 2, 4–11), percussion (tracks: 1–7, 9, 11)
  • Celso Estrada – engineering
  • Dave Trumfio – engineering
  • Rob Schnapf – mixing
  • Mark Chalecki – mastering
  • Peter Watkins – cover photo
  • Trevor Hernandez – art direction, layout
References

References

  1. "Critic Reviews for A Sleep & a Forgetting - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  2. Sendra, Tim. "A Sleep & A Forgetting - Islands | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  3. Brancato, Chris (February 13, 2012). "Album Review: Islands – A Sleep & A Forgetting". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  4. Boles, Benjamin (February 16, 2012). "Islands - A Sleep & A Forgetting | NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Vol. 31, no. 25. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012 – via Wayback Machine.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. Kszystyniak, Andrea (February 15, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting". Paste Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  6. Fitzmaurice, Larry (February 15, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & a Forgetting". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  7. Heigl, Alexander (February 28, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting » PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  8. Kessler, Jen (February 22, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting | Prefix". Prefixmag. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012 – via Wayback Machine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. Cataldo, Jesse (February 12, 2012). "Review: Islands, A Sleep & a Forgetting". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  10. Hanover, Nick (February 27, 2012). "Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
  11. K., Rudy (February 15, 2012). "Islands - A Sleep and a Forgetting (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved April 30, 2025.
External links