Future Islands - The Far Field

Future Islands in the last few years, have become one of the biggest Synth-Pop acts in the world, mostly dude to their GIGANTIC singles and brilliant live shows.  You certainly wouldn't know that though looking at their 2008 debut "Wave Like Me".  The songwriting was obviously solid and their performances were OK.  But the production here was AWFUL, and the songs more often than not came off very hectic and not really well thought out.  Even vocalist Sam Herring's vocals which have become such a gigantic part of Future Islands music seemed so small and minuscule.  THeir next album, "In Evening Air", was a big step up, but started to reveal Future Island's big flaw.  Their biggest flaw has always been their deep album cuts.  Future Islands have ALWAYS been so good at making huge singles to garner them attention, but always get real sloppy with later tracks.  The same is true for "In Evening Air", but the production and song structure at least was a huge step up. 2011's "On The Water" was the first time that I really felt like Future Islands really got it right.  The songs on this album were gigantic, cleanly produced, beautiful, and seriously emotionally charged for Synth Pop tracks.  All Future Islands seriously needed was one HUGE song to get the ball rolling.    And boy, did they ever get that.  On their next album, "Singles", Future Islands absolutely nailed it, creating an almost perfect synth pop album.  Most of this, was fueled by the absolutely massive success of the "Seasons (Waiting On You)" single.  A few legendary live shows and one iconic David Letterman performance later, and Future Islands seem to be on the top of the Synth Pop genre.  These new singles, let me tell you, have been absolutely as gigantic as I could have wanted them to be.  Let's chat about the rest of this thing, shall we!

( I'm just gonna leave this here)

This album starts off with "Aladdin", and I dunno, I feel like right off the bat that fade in could have come off so much better.  It's a little awkward, and I would have been just as happy with them bursting out into a huge single.  However, it does smooth out quickly.  You can always tell Sam Herring's performance from a mile away I feel like, his voice is always so distinct and so passionate, even on more low key tracks like this.  In a strange way this is almost a slow jam, but it does come off nicely.  But at the same time, I almost feel like "Aladdin" is a little too "Business As Usual" for Future Islands.  It's a nice track, but for an intro that's supposed to be ushering in the sound of this entire album it sure does come off safe.  There are certainly some great elements however, like Sam's incredible performance as well as the beautiful strings in the background.  "Time On Her Side" though quickly takes things in the right direction.  This track remains pleasant on the ears, but also falls a little more in line with what I usually fell in love with about Future Islands.  Now, there are some points on this album where the group's instrumentals seem a little recycled, but I have to admit they almost always pull it off nicely and make everything sound fresh.  I always love how BIG the atmosphere is in the music of Future Islands.  The much more bouncy atmosphere on this one actually makes  this one a whole lot easier to swallow.  And while this isn't exactly reinventing the wheel as far as Future Islands go, these big verses and even bigger choruses really make this work.  There's such a vastness to this music, which gives tracks like "Time On Her Side" almost a majestic feel, and that's made even bigger by the very faint horns in the back that actually work great.  It's nothing too different, but a great tune is a great tune. So of course, since this IS a Future Islands album, there has to be that one HUGE, epic synth pop tune.  "Ran" is that single.  It starts off with a very pretty synth intro, while the music of Future Islands has always been epic there's also been a certain tranquility here as well.  The rolling bass however helps this one pick up real quick.  Sam here sounds so reinvigorated, so absolutely GIGANTIC.  As far as a single goes, this is pretty unstoppable sounding.  This ends up being such a wonderful, romantic, sweet song, but it's also intense enough to make you want to climb mountains and run marathons.  Simply put, it's the big single I wanted to hear from Future Islands.  The songwriting continues to be on the simpler side of things, but these performances are so incredibly heartfelt and passionate that I think it works out incredibly.  This is probably going to end up being one of my favorite singles of the year to be honest, I can't listen to this track without getting all caught up in everything.  Sam'e Performance is absolutely incredible, but I still have one issue.  When are Future Islands going to be able to match this intensity for an entire album.  "Beauty Of The Road" is up next, and this is certainly a little more on the experimental side.  It does smooth out quick, but it remains so much more less inviting than "Ran".  However, the groove on this one is solid enough to make this track work.  "Beauty Of The Road" has a little bit of a reggae tinge to it, which certainly is weird at first.  But Sam's more subdued, but equally as passionate performance here actually makes things come off really nicely.  It has a serene beauty that I can't help to get all wrapped up in. The only thing I really can't get into about this, sadly is Sam's performance.   It certainly is just as passionate and huge sounding, but on tracks like this he has a sort of spoken word thing going on that I just can't really get into.  But as far as a groovy, low key Future Islands track, yea this is solid.

"Cave" is up next, the second single dropped from this album.  The synths that open this one up have been the warmest I've heard so far on here, and some of the most inviting sounds I've heard so far as well.  Now, you already know my thoughts on these absolutely HUGE sounding synth pop epics, and this one is just as intense and unstoppable sounding.  On "Cave", Sam's more subdued performance is absolutely stunning to say the very least.  It's a little more on the artsy side and it's absolutely jaw dropping.  It's tracks like "Cave" that Future Islands need to stick with.  The atmosphere alone on tracks like this and these driving performances could sell an album just by sticking to this.  This also is absolutely a much darker sound for Future Islands, compared to the usual, very overpowering and sort of inspirational sound that they tend to go with.  It works fantastically though. PLUS, I love of the more abrasive, noisy bits here, they come off unexpected and genuinely exciting.  But at the end of the day, Sam Herring's truly commanding performance is constantly front and center.  The first track on here that doesn't seriously grab me, is "Through The Roses".  This one once again goes for a much more subdued sound, but here it really doesn't come off as strong.  It's at times like this that I really don't feel like Sam's vocals come off that well.  Here, he doesn't sound raspy or cool, he sounds bored.  I still love the lyrics and all and certainly that mystic vibe really sticks, and some of Sam's more theatrical moments are still captivating.  "North Star" starts off a little weird for my liking as well, but this one smooths out pretty quickly.  It's the little details on this one like the added percussion that gives this one actually a seriously nice groove.  Lyrically there has always been something so classy and romantic about the music of Future Islands, but it really never seems to come off as cheesy, and here is no different.  Sam's voice over the years has come out of it's shell so much that is quite frankly practically has its own personality to it.  I also seriously love the sort of world music flair to "North Star".  It's a nice change in direction for these guys, and it's risks like this that I really want to see them take more of in the future.  "Ancient Water" is up next, and here we see Future Islands back in their comfort zone.  But I wouldn't necessarily say that's a bad thing, this actually has a great feel to it.  It's certainly much icier and robotic sounding, but in a way I sort of felt that was missing from the tracks here so far.  Clearly this sounds like a track that would have shown up on their "Singles" album, which if you're like me loved, than you'll certainly dig this.  This album overall is GOOD, but I do have one real issue with all of this that I can see others having too.  Future Islands are a little too far into their comfort zone.  The music here is often fantastic, but you also get the feeling a little too often that you've heard these tracks before.

"Candles" while it certainly has a fine atmosphere down, things are starting to get a little weird.  Earlier, they toyed a bit with a sort of reggae sound, and it came off great.  This, comes off ridiculously cheesy.  "Candles" main problem is that it just comes off so forced, while earlier attempts at this sounds sort of happened on their own.  The hook on this track is seriously not that good either.  And outside of this lukewarm chorus, Sam's performance here is by far his most lifeless one yet by far.  With some of these late album tracks, Future Islands are resorting to some of their old habits.  Like, so much of this material is GOOD, but then tracks like "Candles" come up and I want to forget everything about this album.  I do however, really like some of the later group vocals.  Future Islands however bounce back very quickly with the fantastic "Day Glow Fire".  Their performance here is determined, as this one quickly comes off as another really solid synth pop anthem.  While I understand that it would be hard for ANYONE to write a whole album in this sort of atmosphere, I'd still love to hear them try.  Sam just sounds so over the top and theatrical here, and the amazing imagery in the lyrics tie everything together wonderfully, as well as this huge sense of longing.  I hear tracks like this and I instantly feel tons of hope for Future Islands' future.  Now, I was certainly worried about "Shadows", mostly because it's a collaboration with legendary Blondie singer Debbie Harry.  Now, I'm a gigantic fan of Blondie but in general Debbie hasn't been sounding too hot lately.  But "Shadows" comes off surprisingly really nice.  The synths are icy, but the atmosphere is much more welcoming,  This one actually has a whole lot in common with some of the earlier BIG singles here, and I love how big and bold Sam's performance is here.  Not to mention, is it just me, or does Debbie Harry actually sound fantastic on this?  She sounds literally right at home among this very explosive synth pop anthem.  The huge releases for the chorus are gigantic and some of the dual vocal portions come off really nice, so hell yea this works great.  This album ends off with "Black Rose", which is at the most, decent.  It has a very subtle, very pretty intro, with a really nice laid back bass line and semi-upbeat feel.  But Sam's performance on this one is a little underwhelming.  It has it's moments certainly but I was expecting a little something grander and more epic for a finale, it's still decent for a finale though.  

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To - "Time On Her Side", "Ran" "Cave", "North Star"

Overall Thoughts:  At the end of the day, this album is good.  But I wouldn't say it's necessarily great, and it's still far from perfect.  Future Islands time after time, bring us so many huge singles that easily stand the test of time and are going to continue getting them a gigantic cult following.  But some of these deep cuts here continue to be underwhelming.  Almost every track here has fantastic moments, and Sam Herring's performance throughout this album is almost always flawless.  But am I the only one who thinks that Future Islands need to take just a few more risks in their music?   It's still probably the best thing going in Synth Pop right now.