Future Islands will be one of those bands that everyone wishes they knew about years ago. At face value, they seem to be a very average synth pop trio: three semi-disheveled 30-something white guys with buttoned up shirts on. Though it’s hard to avoid such judgment, listening is definitely worth it — underneath this khaki cover is a wildly emotional and charismatic group that is just starting to blossom with their new album, Singles.
Since their debut in 2008, these Baltimore synth-poppers have stayed relatively quiet, even through releasing three albums and touring relentlessly. With their recent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, however, the group has found a stage to show the world their true colors and, most emphatically, their frontman, Samuel Herring. Though Herring looks like he could be your receding-hairlined brother-in-law, his performance stunned Letterman and has garnered so many views that it’s now by far the most watched musical segment the show has ever had. Singing the album’s single, “Seasons (Waiting on You)”, Herring grinds his gears down low, bobbing his head and stepping from side to side like a man on a mission. Frankly it’s ridiculous, and probably the reason why the performance has gathered so much attention. If anyone else tried it do the same, it would come off as excessive and perhaps manufactured, but with Herring, there’s no semblance of insincerity in his presentation. He was meant to dance and sing in such a way, and that fact comes through at their live shows and in their music.
Herring is passionate and full of energy throughout the new album, but without the support of Gerrit Welmers on the synth and William Cashion on the bass, he would look a whole lot more like a crazy person. His vocals are very theatrical in an exaggerated Tom Waits sort of way, and they don’t seem like they would normally fit very well into a synth-pop band. Welmers is able to indulge this oddity, however, and make it something unique and complementary rather than detrimental. He uses minimized new wave beats that keep up the pop while giving Herring a frame to work his vocal melodrama. This is a necessity because Herring doesn’t shy away in the slightest from what might seem histrionic. His lyrics swirl around what would seem like a theatrical love poem: “She looks like the day/Something in the way she says ‘goodbye’” or “My sun every morning/My star every evening.” If it seems a little bit over the top, that’s because it is. The group doesn’t shy away from what might be seen as excessive because they’re able to pull you into their own force field. Their unhindered boldness makes you want to dance and sing like Herring yourself rather than dislike him for doing so in the first place.
Compared to their past albums, Singles sounds like the band is ready for their big break. Ballad-like tracks such as “Back in the Tall Grass” and “Fall from Grace” are much more fit for packed arenas than meagerly populated record stores. In “Fall from Grace”, Herring lets the tension of a past love brood as he softly narrates in his deep baritone: “You were mine when I was young/Why does it take so long?” Balancing out these more gloomy tracks, songs like “Spirit” and the single, “Seasons (Waiting on You)”, bring a punch that puts you right back on your feet.
In a zoomed out view, Singles’ originality and cohesiveness shows a band that has looked inwardly instead of at others to get to where they are. The group has worked hard in the past few years to find their real voice and I think that their success with this album is a testament to that.
