Lacking both the alluring eccentricity of Arm’s Way and synth drenched electro pop driving Vapors, Islands’ A Sleep & A Forgetting is unmistakably the least compelling album overextended singer/songwriter Nicholas Thorburn has ever hatched.  Chalked full of trite, minimalists, lovesick shells of his band’s earlier efforts that never quite get off the ground, this LP hints that the versatile vocalist may be tiring of Islands just as he jumped ship from The Unicorns five years ago.  Considering Thorburn’s enthralling voice and seasoned songwriting chops, the album is a major disappointment suggests the Thorburn’s creative energies are now focused on his Sub Pop Record project Mister Heavenly – featuring Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse and The Shins, as well as Honus Honus of experimental rockers Man Man – and no longer graces Islands with his prime material.