Future Islands | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Led by crooning frontman Samuel T. Herring, the members of Future Islands started out making electropop music together in 2003 while attending East Carolina Universitys art program. Along with Herring, the initial members of the group were Adam Beeby, William Cashion, Gerrit Welmers, and Kymia Nawabi, and they played shows around campus as Art Lord & the Self-Portraits. In 2006, after the band split, Herring, Cashion, and Welmers continued under the name Future Islands and picked up the Kickass bassist Erick Murillo to fill out their sound on an electronic drum kit. The band released a few CD-Rs, splits, and cassettes, then began work on their debut album with producer Chester Endersby Gwazda. After the album was recorded, but before it was released, the band, minus Murillo, relocated to Baltimore. Wave Like Home was released in 2008 for the Upset the Rhythm label. Future Islands toured steadily, built up a fan base, and continued refining their sound. They signed to Thrill Jockey and released two records in 2010, the In the Fall EP and the In Evening Air album. After some conflict over their next album, 2011s On the Water, the group left Thrill Jockey and went underground. Herring worked on his hip-hop side project, Hemlock Ernst, and the group quietly began work on another album. They released a single for old friends Upset the Rhythm in 2012, then in 2013 signed with 4AD. Their first album for the label, 2014s Singles, was a streamlined, very accessible synth pop album produced by Chris Coady. They caused a splash in the indie rock community when their performance of one of the albums highlights, "Seasons (Waiting on You)," on Late Night with David Letterman left the host dazzled and nearly speechless. The band toured extensively, appeared at Glastonbury in 2015, and that same year released a single, "The Chase"/"Haunted by You." In the interim between albums, Herring kept very busy. He popped up as a guest vocalist on tracks by Clams Casino, Du Blonde, and BadBadNotGood, formed a hip-hop duo called Trouble Knows Me with producer Madlib, and appeared on numerous tracks using his Hemlock Ernst hip-hop alter ego. Amidst this flurry of activity, Herring and the rest of Future Islands found time to make their sixth album. Working with producer John Congleton, they added a layer of studio sheen to their trademark sound, while calling in Blondies Debbie Harry to guest on a track. The resulting record, The Far Field, was issued by 4AD in early 2017. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: Little Advances Released: 2006-04-26 Tracks: 7 Duration: 25:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Changing Your Life (03:00) 2 Follow You (03:14) 3 Pretty Riffy (03:08) 4 Take It Back (03:20) 5 I Dont Know Why (05:04) 6 Beach Foam (04:36) 7 Nu Autobahn (03:33) |
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: Wave Like Home Released: 2008-03 Tracks: 9 Duration: 29:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Pangaea (03:10) 2 Old Friend (03:11) 3 Flicker & Flutter (02:47) 4 Escape Artist (03:09) 5 Seize a Shark (02:24) 6 Heart Grows Old (03:16) 7 Beach Foam (04:27) 8 Wave Like Home (02:57) 9 Little Dreamer (03:58) |
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: Feathers & Hallways Released: 2009-05-04 Tracks: 2 Duration: 06:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Pinnochio (03:18) 2 The Happiness of Being Twice (03:00) |
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: In the Fall Released: 2010-03-16 Tracks: 4 Duration: 17:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Tin Man (extended version) (04:54) 2 Virgo Distracts (02:41) 3 In the Fall (05:04) 4 Awake & Dreaming (04:42) |
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: In Evening Air Released: 2010-05-04 Tracks: 9 Duration: 36:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Walking Through That Door (04:31) 2 Long Flight (05:15) 3 Tin Man (03:13) 4 An Apology (03:43) 5 In Evening Air (01:13) 6 Swept Inside (04:47) 7 Inch of Dust (03:33) 8 Vireos Eye (04:07) 9 As I Fall (05:35) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: Undressed Released: 2010-09-21 Tracks: 4 Duration: 17:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 In the Fall (04:50) 2 An Apology (04:22) 3 Long Flight (05:13) 4 Little Dreamer (02:58) |
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: On the Water Released: 2011-10-11 Tracks: 10 Duration: 41:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 On the Water (04:52) 2 Before the Bridge (03:59) 3 The Great Fire (03:15) 4 Open (01:28) 5 Where I Found You (05:44) 6 Give Us the Wind (04:06) 7 Close to None (06:19) 8 Balance (04:06) 9 Tybee Island (03:17) 10 Grease (04:35) |
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: Singles Released: 2014-03-24 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Seasons (Waiting on You) (03:46) 2 Spirit (04:22) 3 Sun in the Morning (03:51) 4 Doves (03:29) 5 Back in the Tall Grass (04:17) 6 A Song for Our Grandfathers (04:56) 7 Light House (04:49) 8 Like the Moon (04:41) 9 Fall From Grace (04:16) 10 A Dream of You and Me (04:01) |
| Singles : Allmusic album Review : After a solid run of albums that showed growth each time, Future Islands explode into greatness on their fourth album, and first for 4AD, 2014s Singles. Streamlining their synth-heavy, experimental, almost danceable sound of the past into something laser-focused, new wave familiar, and very, very immediate, the album is a great leap forward thats filled with intensely catchy songs and allows vocalist Samuel T. Herring to shine like the star hes always been. His David Thomas of Pere Ubu meets David Prater of Sam & Dave singing style is both more expansive than ever and more restrained. He ducks and bobs around the pulsing disco beats and glittering synths like a boxer, sometimes knocking you out with histrionic growls and deep-throated snarls, sometimes setting you up with lightly crooned pleading that hits like a heart punch. Its a masterful performance thats matched by Chris Coadys expert production and the work of bassist/guitarist William Cashion and guitarist/synthist J. Gerrit Welmers (as well as session drummer Denny Bowen). Coady smooths the groups sound out without sacrificing any punch, then layers in horns, backing vocals, and keys until the album shines like a well-polished diamond. Cashions bass work is the key supporting player, rumbling like a propulsive motor and laying down melodic lines he must have learned through hours of studying Peter Hooks best work. Welmers keyboard work isnt far behind, as he always drops in the right fills and uses the perfect colors to fill in behind the action. Its a perfectly constructed sound that gives Herring the freedom to spill his guts without fear, and in the end works to make the records title sound truer than they probably even imagined. Every song sounds like a past, present, and future hit single, with ringing hooks, grooves that wont leave your hips alone, and the kind of cutting emotional depth that will leave blood pooling around your feet as it slashes you again and again. Pick any song, like the achingly pretty "Seasons (Waiting on You)" or the understated "Light House" or the after-hours Roxy Music-inspired "Like the Moon," and itll be the kind of song that will stop people in their tracks in a crowded bar, the kind that you play over and over when you run across it streaming on a website, the kind that you tell all your friends about. A whole album of songs like that feels like a dream come true. Its real, though, and the vocals, the songs, the music, and the production work together to make Singles a one-of-a-kind experience thats nearly perfect. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: The Far Field Released: 2017-04-07 Tracks: 12 Duration: 45:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Aladdin (04:13) 2 Time on Her Side (03:38) 3 Ran (03:25) 4 Beauty of the Road (04:09) 5 Cave (03:51) 6 Through the Roses (03:14) 7 North Star (03:35) 8 Ancient Water (03:55) 9 Candles (03:56) 10 Day Glow Fire (03:49) 11 Shadows (04:05) 12 Black Rose (03:24) |
| The Far Field : Allmusic album Review : Future Islands 2014 album, Singles, was the moment when it all came together for them, musically, commercially, artistically. It had a handful of amazing singles, an overall sound that was sophisticated while wracked with emotion, a Chris Coady production that sanded off any sharp edges without feeling overdone, and Samuel T. Herrings brilliant vocals taking it all over the top to greatness. The band took three years before releasing its next album, The Far Field, and while it lacks the immediacy and shock of Singles, it feels like the work of a band looking to take another giant leap forward. Working with producer John Congleton this time, they add an extra layer of polish and bring in even more horns and strings than they did on the already lush Singles. This deluxe backing gives Herring more cushion to surround his vocal exhortations and desperate pleading; maybe a little too much. At times, he seems a little suffocated by the pillowy arrangements and he loses some of the edge that helps balance the fluffy strings and synths. That being said, hes still a force to be reckoned with and the increased amount of crooning he does on the album really shows how much he keep growing with each new release. That imbalance of deep emotion and overly precise arrangements is problematic, though. Even though the record is filled with hooky, emotionally powerful songs, their impact is blunted by the slickness of the production. For every track like "Day Glow Fire," which hews closely to the near-perfect template set up on Singles, there are a few that add too much unnecessary stuff to the mix. Stuffy strings, fluffy clouds of echo, stacks of backing vocals, a Debbie Harry duet...they add up and detract from the things that make the band sound unique, like Herrings vocals and the driving synth pop sparseness that Singles really locked into. The Far Field isnt a failure or a misstep, since there are so many good songs and their basic sound is still so strong. Its a shame that the band and Congleton felt the need to pretty things up, to make them sound more sophisticated and domesticated. It means that despite Herrings bravura performance, the album feels like a watered-down and lesser version of Singles. | ||