Broken Islands- Masquerade

By Johnny Kosmos

Once in awhile a band seemingly comes out of nowhere and completely challenges whatever you thought you knew about your local music scene. You’re left sitting there wondering where they’ve been hiding all this time. 

This band is the Broken Islands. They are pure rock n roll and could be at home in any year for the past three decades or so. Combining elements of 80s/90s British shoegaze, pop and darkwave, with the full-scale, cinematic compositions of Mogwai, the Broken Islands’ Masquerade is a front-to-back auditory odyssey. The follow up to 2017’s Wars, the record is a refreshing change of pace for the often folksy west coast scene.

“Masquerade as a whole, encompasses the concept of living every day with our internal struggles, and wearing a metaphorical mask to survive what life throws at us.” says lead singer Rachelle Boily. “Whether that’s smiling when we don’t want to, pretending to be happy when we’re not, acting like everything is great when it’s not.” 

This album is rife with the themes of masks, reflection and melancholy. From the opening droney synths of ‘Solid State’, right through to the sweeping epic conclusion called ‘Ballet’, you will often find yourself staring off into space, fully immersed in their world, and reflecting on your own. And just when you’re feeling lost in your thoughts, the album’s energetic turning point, ‘Shapeshifter’, comes to take you into the second act. “Our band as a whole experienced hardships, trials, tribulations and major life events during the recording of Masquerade. The weight of this album comes from shared experiences and a commonality between us, each one of us leaving a piece of our soul on every track,” says Rachelle. The album as a whole feels like a full-concept ride, yet if you listen to each track individually it seems as if it’s a collection of thoughts and moods from a thousand minds. 

“We don’t have a set process for writing; either someone comes in with an idea we elaborate on, or we’ll be in the space mucking around and someone will play something cool,” says Rachelle. “It’s rare someone will come in with a completely unfinished song that remains unchanged.” Their process is completely collaborative, somewhat of a rarity these days. Some bands really struggle to make this model work, yet the band’s that can make it work truly achieve something special. 

Collaborating on this record is the legendary Dave ‘The Rave” Ogilvie (Tool, NiN, Skinny Puppy). “Rachel (Ashmore) has known Rave for years, having had the pleasure of working alongside him at several recording studios over the past decade,” Rachelle says of Rave. “He has since become the unofficial seventh member of the band, and we are beyond honoured to have such a force of talent on our team.” Having the support and input of a man such as Dave Ogilvie is a testament to the talent and potential of the Broken Islands. “He came to our show to support his buddy, and to our luck, ended up genuinely liking our sound.”

Ogilvie throwing his hat in the ring makes a world of sense when you see how deep their UK roots run. Seen throughout their influences, their style and their sound, this band has already got a decent foothold overseas. “We spend a lot of time in the U.K, mostly because the bands we are influenced by hail from The Mother Land of music. Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, London,” says Rachelle. “We took a chance doing our first tour there last May, and from there we were invited to do an artist residency at the famous Troubadour London which we did in November 2019.”   

Vancouver needs more bands like the Broken Islands. And with Canada and the US lined up for their next takeover, hopefully the entire nation knows their name.