Pitchfork Forkcast: Premiere: Human Highway (Nick Thorburn of Islands and Jim Guthrie): "The Sound" [Stream]

Premiere: Human Highway (Nick Thorburn of Islands and Jim Guthrie): "The Sound" [Stream]

When he's fronting Islands, Nick Thorburn is free to explore his experimental side, folding genres including orchestral pop, calypso, and hip-hop into his peculiar musical stew. Working with fellow Canadian singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie as Human Highway, he appears to be getting back to basics, at least judging from this advance track from their forthcoming full-length debut Moody Motorcycle. On "The Sound", Thorburn and Guthrie's reverence for the close harmonies of the Everly Brothers brings to mind kindred spirits from the laid-back 1970s West Coast folk-rock set. The vibrations are good, the song-song tune sticks in your head, and the acoustic guitar bit is as simple as it gets. Stop, hey, what's that sound? Oh, "The Sound", OK.