And now for something different…let’s move from more guitar-focused bands to a synth-pop group. I hate to define bands into such a tight corner, but it gives you an idea of where we’re headed. I am just discovering Future Islands with their 2020 release As Long as You Are and it’s their sixth album.
Future Islands are Samuel T. Herring (lyrics, vocals), William Cashion (guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming), and previous touring percussionist, Michael Lowry, is now a full-time member. They grew up as friends in North Carolina and are now based in Baltimore, MD. They have art backgrounds and employed this in the costume, character-focused first band, Art Lord and the Self Portraits. The band dissolved in 2005 after a couple members left causing the core trio to contemplate a new direction. They had different musical backgrounds from hip-hop, to punk/metal, to grunge and indie. They blended styles, as well as band names, having narrowed the new moniker choice to Future Shoes or Already Islands.
Their first album, Wave Like Home was released in 2007 followed up by In Evening Air in 2008. Their third LP was On the Air in 2011, a more subdued effort than the upbeat tempo of In Evening Air. After extensive touring they retreated to a cabin in North Carolina to record their next album, Singles in 2014. The acclaim for the album (Pitchfork’s Album of the Year), the single “Seasons (Waiting on You), and most of all, the appearance on David Letterman vaulted the band to a new level of success and popularity. You can’t read an article about Future Islands without the Letterman gig being highlighted. It quickly became the most viewed music video on You Tube. It showcased the singing (more on his classic voice later) and front man performance of Samuel Herring. He’s dancing throughout, often in bend down-low-motions. He lets out growly roars and pounds his chest like he’s just scored a touchdown. He feels it. Letterman truly seemed blown away. Check it out.
In 2017, the band released The Far Field, featuring a duet, “Shadows,” with Debbie Harry. Which brings us to As Long as You Are. From the opening track’s (“Glada”) first words “new canopies arise” you know what you’re in for. That voice! It’s remarkable. The interplay between Herring’s baritone and the synths is the band’s signature sound. A similar experience awaits you on the gorgeous ballad, “Thrill” and its opening line “Blue water, black bible.” Soothing is one word for these guys.
I’m not sure there’s a theme to Herring’s songs on the album, but broken relationships are one emphasis with both heartbreak and hope as outcomes. The mellow, dark “I Knew You” seems to suggest a final, sad break-up with “I knew you as you were, not as you are, and now will leave it all said and done.” “Moonlight,” a soft little love song offers “the chance to make it, make this into something more.” The closure “Hit the Coast” is a road trip song with his old favorite tape “reduced to hiss”, representative of his relationship, but he’s free with all he needs in the car.
“Waking” is an upbeat song about life’s purpose featuring bass and synths. Plastic Beach is one of the album’s highlights when the band really gels over Herring’s “I spent a lifetime in the mirror, picking apart what I couldn’t change, now I see, I see tomorrow.” “For Sure” was the first single released, the first Future Islands song I heard, and for sure my favorite. It pulses from the start and floats you away in its fluffy clouds.
D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐
Trivia – What Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning American poet is an influence on Samuel Herring for his songwriting? (The Far Field album is named after one of his award-winning collection of poems.)
Answer: Theodore Roethke