News / / 09.04.14

Future Islands

Singles (4AD)

16/20

History is littered with tales of bands who have pitched up, risen to great heights too quickly and suddenly found themselves strangled by the hands of over-expectation. For Baltimore’s much-more-than-a-synthpop-band Future Islands it has been quite a different story so far; for them it’s been a long road, one that since their formation in 2006 has seen them slowly build up, block by block, a solid reputation. Singles, their fourth album, sees them once again take several steps forward musically. It also suggests they’re nearing a point where they can break out of the indie underground into a climate where their sound can be fully appreciated. Opener Seasons (Waiting on You) is a bold introduction that swerves towards the most grandiose end of area indie, but the 80s-inspired pop reaches its zenith on Like The Moon, where a healthy sprinkling of grasping RnB synths layer themselves over an AOR backdrop. Many may have first found themselves taking notice after frontman Samuel T. Herring’s drunk-Uncle dancing on Letterman, but those who are intrigued to take a closer inspection will be grateful for discovering a band with a consistently potent catalogue, as well a deserved potential breakthrough record in Singles.

 

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Words: Nathan Westley

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