Almost entirely acoustic, Island begins with 13 darkened chords, and was recorded live at Abbey Road Studios with the London Contemporary Orchestra. The introduction is sound of waking up alone, and on the shore of a strange land. What follows is a shimmering and luscious orchestral album that draws across the full breadth of Palletts discography, from Heartlands Technicolor to the glittering, fingerpicked guitar that marked Palletts first records with their trio, Les Mouches.

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For the first time, Pallett – who has a lifetime of classical training – created an album without brooding over the way it might be performed on stage. This wasnt easy: Palletts initial reputation was founded on their live virtuosity, playing violin for groups including Arcade Fire and the Hidden Cameras, and a solo fiddle and loop-pedal act, under the name Final Fantasy. Palletts second release as Final Fantasy, 2006s He Poos Clouds, was awarded the inaugural Polaris Music Prize.

In addition to Palletts Grammy award-winning work with Arcade Fire, Palletts commissions have included string, brass and orchestral arrangements for Frank Ocean, Caribou, the Last Shadow Puppets, the National, The Mountain Goats, Christine and the Queens, R.E.M., Linkin Park, Sigur Rs, Taylor Swift, and the Pet Shop Boys. Since the release of In Conflict (2014), Pallett has earned an Oscar nomination for their film scoring work on Spike Jonzes Her, and an Emmy for Slve Sundsbs Fourteen Actors Acting. He also worked on the score for Matt Wolfs Spaceship Earth, a documentary about a crew who spent two years quarantined inside a replica of Earths ecosystem called BIOSPHERE 2.