No Island is returning to Powell River with a new album and a familiar face.
Andy Rice, for those not familiar with the local music scene, sings and plays keyboards for the band. He grew up in Powell River and performed for Powell River Academy of Music before moving to Vancouver to study music at university.
No Island takes to the stage at Max Cameron Theatre with its smooth vintage easy rock sound, playing tracks from the band’s latest full-length album called Better Days.
Anyone nostalgic for The Eagles, The Police or Fleetwood Mac is going to feel immediate comfort spinning No Island’s latest release or seeing the band live on stage.
“We didn’t want to come back until we had a new album, something new to show everybody,” said Rice. “This is an album that makes you look forward to things. It’s about remembering the past and being optimist for better days.”
With the new lineup of players, it is easy to understand the band’s outlook.
The three remaining founding members of the band, Andy Rice on keyboards, Keith Sinclair on guitars and James Wilfred Martin on saxophone/clarinet, met five years ago while at Capilano University studying jazz. They recruited two new members, drummer Max Ley and multi-instrumentalist Jay Esplana, to create this new incarnation of the band. Rice said so much of their personalities and energy come through with the new album that listeners are sure to feel like they know the band members from their playing.
The new dynamic has also brought the band’s vocals, backup and lead to the forefront, Rice said. He explained before Ley and Esplana joined only Sinclair would sing. “Now we all sing a ton,” Rice said. In a band of five frontmen, three sing lead. And those harmonies are part of the rich sound all over the new record and live show, he added.
Rice said they recorded the album last spring and it mixed over the summer. The new album sounds like the No Island seen on stage, he added.
Better Days is the first album which includes all the current members of the band. “Finally the guys you see before you on stage are on this record—that’s the difference. You hear it in their playing, in their energy, in their personality,” said Rice. “It feels like the band is complete. This is us now.”
Better Days was officially released on Tuesday, April 21. To hear a couple of tracks from the album or to purchase, readers can visit No Island’s website. Also, the band recently won second place in a Vancouver radio station cover band contest for its performance of The Eagles’ song “One of These Nights,” which can be heard on the band’s website as well.
No Island will take to the stage at 7:30 pm on Saturday, May 9, at Max Cameron Theatre. Tickets are available at Breakwater Books and Fudge, Townsite Brewing, the academy of music and online, $15 adults, $10 seniors and students.
