There are plenty of artists out there who quietly and diligently amass a body of work, building a following by constant touring or releasing new music, and working hard on the socials to keep their name in view. This is not a summary that can be levelled at brother/sister duo Chap and Daisy Bernet, who comprise Five Islands. So far, their recorded output is two standalone singles, and a five-track EP. Their website appears to have been discontinued. There are a handful of homemade videos on YouTube, and that’s it. Their career appears to be one that flickered briefly and then disappeared. Which is a shame, because in their brief recorded output, they captured more than a little magic.
Hailing from Dallas, they based themselves in Nashville to release their opening singles, ‘No More Dancing’ and ‘Smoke’ in 2018. These songs are both rather wonderful, though in subtly different ways.
First out of the blocks was ‘No More Dancing’, a gorgeous, slightly melancholy slice of folky americana, with country fiddle, acoustic guitar and brushed drums backing Daisy’s fantastic rustic voice – think a less strident Iris De Ment. It has a warmth and easy rhythm that is immediately engaging.
This was soon followed by ‘Smoke’, which has something of an old-timey swing to its lo-fi story of a quiet love story between two lonely hearts who meet sharing a smoke outside their miserable workplace. It is full of the sadness of the chances we don’t allow ourselves to take, and the writing is first-class, unwrapping the story as delicately and slowly as a fragile antique enclosed in ancient tissue paper. With a sumptuous chorus, it is a perfect little package.
A couple of years go by, and an EP arrives. “I Think In Time, I’ll be Fine” is a fine collection of songs. Once again, the quality of the songwriting shines through. ‘Lonely’ is perhaps the track that most builds on the first two songs, with a gorgeous, slightly retro melody. ‘Leaving California’ mines similar territory to ’No More Dancing’, and once again has an instantly memorable chorus hook. ‘These Roots’, meanwhile, signposts that there were surely other paths they could have taken, being a proper duet, with Daisy melding her voice beautifully to match Chap’s more understated delivery.
So, perhaps these seven songs will be all we’ll ever have, or perhaps there will (hopefully) be a second act. What Five Islands do remind us, though, is that quantity and quality have little in common. Better to have one song that can impact on the listener, than many albums that never touch a chord in someone else’s life.
