Montreal pop sextet Islands is a great example of the cliche, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

From the ashes of The Unicorns, Nick Thorburn's first project with Alden Penner and longtime collaborator Jamie Thompson, new music was created, which eventually formed the basis of Islands.

"When that band dissolved, (Jamie and I) were both fairly heartbroken and not sure what the next move was and what we'd do. We'd kind of invested our entire lives into that objective," Thorburn, 26, explains from his tour bus somewhere in the midst of North Dakota.

"So we made a decision to keep playing music together and the result of that was Return to the Sea. We started working on songs before we had a name and well before we had the band we have now."

Islands' debut Return to the Sea was released in May 2006 and Thompson officially quit the band just a week later as the group was about to embark on its first European tour.

"His life path changed pretty dramatically and he wanted to change his lifestyle and part of that was not touring all the time, which is tough for a lot of people because touring is a lot of arduous work," says Thorburn, adding his departure had nothing to do with any sort of internal band conflict.

Songwriter Jim Guthrie stepped in as a temporary member for the tour and a year later, Islands had once again solidified its six-piece line-up and headed back into the studio to record its follow-up Arm's Way, which was officially released just a few weeks ago.

"I think earlier on, (Arm's Way) was heading in more of a pop direction, shorter songs and lighter sounding, somewhat similar to Return to the Sea. But at a certain point, things took a bit of a sharp turn and it did get a little heavier and a lot of the songs that came up at that point were minor key songs," Thorburn says, explaining the turning point came when he wrote the album's opening track and first single The Arm. "I knew the album was going to be darker and heavier sounding ... It sort of determined the rest of the work, what was to come and what the rest of the tracks on the record would be."

With the band solidified and brand new material, the picture was completed by the band's brand new label they now call home. In February of this year, Islands signed with Epitaph's sister label ANTI- and is only the fourth Canadian band to be signed by the Epitaph label group.

Thorburn says this new working relationship has presented the band with "an ideal situation," but at the end of the day, business stills dictates the band's activities.

"I've got like 40 songs that are just sitting around. I'd love to start working on new stuff, but you're kind of at the will of the music industry, which demands that you tour a bunch more," says Thorburn.

Islands will be playing two shows at the Starlite Room tomorrow, the first for an all-ages crowd and a later show for fans 18 and older.

"That's a moral sort of decision, and a logical one too, because our fan base is all ages and we wouldn't want to limit anyone from seeing us because they can't buy a drink," says Thorburn.