The COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to inspire art of all stripes for years to come. Touring musicians have been forced to reckon with a situation that challenges their livelihoods and their ability to collaborate. The Flower Kings respond directly with Islands, a 90-minute, 21-song double album whose theme is isolation, loss, and the fear of disconnection. It is adorned with a "floating islands" cover painting from Roger Dean. After 2019's Waiting for the Miracles comeback, the band planned on touring for at least a year. The pandemic had other ideas. Undaunted, Roine Stolt assembled TFK online to write and record through the internet and in doing so, they found empathy with the plight of the global population. The record took less than a year from conception to mastering. What sets it apart from other titles in TFK's catalog is that rather than epic-length pieces on one release, they deliver an album of short-to-middling songs in a kaleidoscopic musical framework meant to be absorbed in one sitting.
The lyrics in muscular overture "Racing with Blinders On" exhort listeners not to surrender their joy to despair. It also establishes the primacy of Jonas Reingold's bass playing; he guides and anchors the album throughout. "From the Ground" finds TFK consciously evoking Yes' "And You & I." The poignant "Morning News" contrasts the before-and-after-the-pandemic as "...death is opening like a rose…." "Journeyman" is one of several cuts that reflect Frank Zappa's massive influence; others include "Hidden Angles" and "Fool’s Gold." "Solaris," titled after Andrei Tarkovsky's film, is the set's most assuredly "prog" jam with a full choir; it's about an astronaut's desolate journey to the sun as his deep loneliness affects his perception of reality. "All I Need Is Love" peerlessly joins the human experience to creation's bounty through the use of flamenco palmas, a sweet lyric hook, Stolt's layered electric and acoustic guitars, Mirko DeMaio's majestic drumming, Zach Kamins' piano and keys, and Hasse Fröberg's soaring vocals. "Northern Lights" is another transcendent vocal showcase for his gorgeous, Paul Buchanan-esque singing alongside Reingold's revelatory bass work. "Serpentine" melds hoary prog and Zappa-esque fusion with a soulful soprano sax appearance from guest Rob Townsend. It precedes the illuminating instrumental "Looking for Answers" that juxtaposes classical and Gregorian choirs, biting lead guitars, and sweeping keyboards. "Telescope"'s spiraling guitars, jazzy bass, majestic drums, and insightful keys support Fröberg as he laments viewing the holiness of the natural world through glass. "Fool's Gold" is an adventurous rocker with Fröberg and Stolt alternating vocals amid squalling organs and wah-wah guitars. From spiky prog to sophisticated yet quirky pop; from classical choirs to tender melodies; from poetic lyrics to intricate instrumental interplay, the Flower Kings rage against separation and silence on Islands. Its bright, warm production and inspired performances contradict the dire global circumstances surrounding its creation, rendering it all the more remarkable.