future islands tour review

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Future Islands live in London: a sparkling testament to communal spirit

March 25, Alexandra Palace: The indie heroes mesmerise as they transform their biggest headline show to date into a glorious mega-party

Samuel T. Herring has the endearingly befuddled air of someone who just woke up from a dream to find themselves onstage in front of thousands of people. As the pulsing rhythms of ‘For Sure’ begin to wash over the 10,000-strong crowd at London’s Alexandra Palace this evening, the Future Islands frontman laughs and shakes his head in disbelief, before suddenly swinging his mic like a lasso. “Let’s fucking go,” he commands.

It’s moments like this where you’re struck by Herring’s ability to completely shift his emotions in a split-second. There’s something deeply magnetic about him: he possesses a rare, colossal charisma that can quickly veer into unsettlingly powerful stage theatrics. In his most audacious moments, he licks his own sweat off his arms and creaks his neck like a contortionist, causing thousands of hearts to move to mouths. He knows exactly what he is doing, too: “I was kicked out of art school,” he says, barely concealing a smirk as he surveys the crowd’s rapture after a delightfully ravey ‘King Of Sweden’. “Because I break the rules.”

But tonight, Herring’s many sporadic outbreaks of wild dancing and air-punching seem far from absurd; it’s exactly what the therapeutic intensity of Future Islands’ music is made for. They are a band you absolutely want to love: searching and sensitive, with songs that focus on the heart. In Herring, they have a heroic frontman who can create a deep sense of togetherness in one of the largest indoor venues in the capital: “ But trust me as a friend / And I’ll do all that I can do”, he sings on a tender and soaring ‘Balance’. You believe him.

The Baltimore four-piece draw generously from 2020 album ‘As Long As You Are’ , swaying in unison to the joyful reverie of ‘Hit The Coast’, and flexing sumptuous arrays of guitar and percussion on ‘Moonlight’, a romantic epic writ large: filmic, intimate and uplifting. This is their biggest headline show to date, but thankfully, there’s no pretence at playing it cool: ‘Beauty Of The Road’ – the highlight from 2017’s ‘The Far Field’ – is dedicated to the band’s 16-year journey to get here. From the supersized pop of the recent material (‘Peach’) to the throwbacks (‘Tin Man’, a triumphant ‘Little Dreamer’), they work to flesh out the enormity of Future Islands’ spellbinding universe.

The crack in Herring’s voice in breakthrough hit ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ is killingly real. His tears fall hard and fast as audience cheers ring out for minutes after the song’s gleaming synths have faded away, adding real emotional heft to a revelatory set from one of the most adored cult bands on the planet. We are lucky to have them.

Future Islands played:

‘For Sure’

Recommended

‘Hit The Coast’

‘Beauty Of The Road’

‘Plastic Beach’

‘Peach’

‘Waking’

‘Walking Through That Door’

‘Balance’

‘Before The Bridge’

‘Light House’

‘Moonlight’

‘A Dream Of You And Me’

‘The Painter’

‘The King Of Sweden’

‘Ancient Water’

‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’

‘Long Flight’

‘Tin Man’

‘Thrill’

‘Inch Of Dust’

‘Vireo’s Eye’

‘Little Dreamer’

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Future Islands review – not drowning but raving

Barrowlands, Glasgow Future Islands’ Samuel T Herring is one of the most sweatily intense singers around, but it’s not just theatrics

I t takes all of five songs for Samuel T Herring’s checked shirt to transition from ironed fabric to sodden dishrag. Future Islands’ frontman spends much of this first night of the band’s UK tour looking as though he has just crawled on to a beach after a boating accident – wild-eyed, gesticulating, drenched. To list Herring’s many antics over the course of the set feels like a cheap shot, reducing to mere spectacle a complex and footnoted ritual of menace, suffering, libido and joy. But it all goes irrevocably soggy on A Dream of You And Me – a song from 2014’s Singles album – when he starts Cossack dancing, and then licking his own arms. After some fine robot moves in the encore, Herring jokes that he hasn’t attempted them on stage since about 2004.

Herring’s reputation as one of the most arresting frontpeople in a generation was cemented during the course of one fateful TV broadcast in 2014. When the band played their single, Seasons (Waiting on You), on the Late Show With David Letterman – Herring staring down the camera, swivelling his pelvis – the internet quickly did what the internet does: turned his acute physical theatre into a meme.

It’s possible the internet hadn’t been to enough punk shows, where hitting yourself in the chest from a surfeit of emotion is a more common occurrence. But, overnight, Future Islands filled a void that no one had quite realised existed: for a version of the Killers fronted by a man who looked as though he could actually kill somebody.

Putting Herring in a specimen jar proved difficult, though. Now spearheading a wave of ordinary-joe intensity, he had actually been a teenage hip-hop head – keyboard player Gerrit Welmers and bassist William Cashion brought the vintage synths and Peter Hook basslines to the Islands. Herring’s approach to lyrics still owes a debt to the rhythmic assonances of rap, and, additionally, to the works of Theodore Roethke , a mid-20th century poet in whose writing the natural world loomed large.

Herring was clearly nobody’s jester; nonetheless, one-hit wonderdom beckoned. The bogglers mostly stayed, because Future Islands’ songs were hopelessly romantic, and Herring’s open-hearted take on outsiderdom came hand-in-hand with tunes – bright, starry-eyed, muscular compositions that served as a counterweight to the frequent bleakness of Herring’s lyrics. Glasgow’s storied Barrowlands is an enthusiastic place much of the time, but there is something more in the room tonight – no silence at all. Pauses between songs fill up with a crescendo of whooping and stomping, as though the crowd were trying to towel Herring off with their affection.

The Far Field , Future Islands’ fifth album, came out at the start of April. It reacts to the pressure of the runaway success of its predecessor by not straying far from the blueprint that earned the Baltimore band their cult status. What the music lacks in variety, it makes up in nuance.

If you were DJing, you could easily mix Future Islands half a dozen ways. Thanks to the masterful drumming of Michael Lowry, they boast a disco-y, punk-funk undercarriage that recalls LCD Soundsystem, another band in which an intense guy holds court over synthesisers. Sometimes, the linear blooping recalls early Depeche Mode – and Glasgow’s own Chvrches .

Every polychromatic wash unleashed by Welmers sounds a little like the opening bars of Born Slippy (Nuxx) by Underworld. Their road songs have an all-American, heartland appeal, exemplified on the new album by Ran , a song with roughly equal mileage of hope and sorrow.

As the set progresses and Herring’s shirt starts to actually drip, though, the music grows a little more unhinged, as though coming to meet him halfway. The song that inaugurated Future Islands’ second act, Seasons (Waiting on You), has had a little touch-up. It’s hard to pinpoint what has changed, but there’s a subtle unfamiliarity to it that makes you think Future Islands might be conscious of the dangers of repeating themselves too much.

If anything, their new songs have grown bleaker. “I don’t believe any more,” croons Herring desolately on the standout Cave – just one of the Far Field songs in which the absence of love is an unbearable wound that no amount of validation can suture.

It is a cliche of band membership that the more your innermost emotions find an audience, the more of a beating your own personal relationships take. Herring’s latest heartbreak is one mover of The Far Field – named, like a previous Future Islands album (2011’s In Evening Air ), after a poem by Roethke. Somewhat inevitably, the band have just announced another huge American tour.

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Live Review: Future Islands

By Annie Dabb

Article Summary

Future Islands , an American synth-pop band who on the surface look like they’d be more my middle-aged parents’ speed than mine, played in the Manchester Academy on 23rd February. However, one need to listen to only a few of the artists’ techno-inspired tunes to realise that this band’s music demands movement. Having seen videos of the lead singer Samuel T. Herring performing, he certainly doesn’t hold back. 

I’ve been a fan of the quartet since hearing band BADBADNOTGOOD’s collaboration on their single ‘Seasons (waiting on you)’ when I was 18. Three years (ish) later and the song is still one of my favourites to blast when I’m in a dancy mood. 

With the band’s emphasis on the creative physicality of live performance, which has been so vigorous in the past that Herring has ended up hospitalised , I was excited to see what body-popping shapes they would cut on this tour. The band’s most recent releases include their 2020 album As Long as You Are (2020) and subsequent singles ‘Peach’ (2021) and ‘King of Sweden’ (2022), which was performed as a live debut! 

The gig began with ‘On the Water’, the first track on their 2011 album of the same name. The 10 year age of the song seemed apt for the attendee demographic, which appeared to range from me and my friend (in our very early 20s) easily up to concert-goers in their late 50s. 

Judging by the enthusiasm of the grey-haired jumpers in the crowd, the band were clearly aware of their long-time fanbase. This perhaps speaks to the sentiment of Future Island’s songs in general, which combine almost futuristic soundscapes with nostalgic confessions and memories of lost love. 

One particularly poignant moment was when Herring explained to the crowd that ‘A Dream of You and Me’ was about a girl he’d loved and no longer knew, but the lyrics about whom had remained even despite the passage of time. Throughout the entire performance, Herring gave prefatory explanations before the opening bars of the majority of songs. This gave the gig a really personal element which made it easy to understand why the bands’ fans remain loyal. 

However it was with tracks like ‘Ancient Water’ and ‘For Sure’ that Herring really seemed to come into his own, with almost contorting dance moves and his infamous growl that exposes the punk rock and heavy metal influences on Future Island’s self described ‘post-wave’ sound. I’d never heard anything like it in real life. Combining this with what I can only describe as the delicate plonks of thimbles and chimes at the top of the music, the venue was transformed into an intimate space and a 90s techno venue all at the same time. It’s no surprise that Herring has named ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’ (another one of my favourite bands) as one of the greatest influences on the band’s sound. 

Perhaps one of the most captivating elements of the whole performance was the minimalistic set design, consisting of a plain cream backdrop and two triangular structures, one at either side of the stage. The soft lightning gave off just the right amount of melancholy to compliment Herring’s high energy performance. I can’t help but think the seeming immobility (in comparison) of the band’s other members was intended to give the same effect. 

If you’re looking for a night of nostalgic reminiscence (that doesn’t necessarily have to be your own), and the chance to have an unself-conscious boogie to some gorgeous synth beats, Future Islands are definitely the performers for you. Just prepare yourself for Herring’s eruptive growls which made my heart feel like it was vibrating in my chest.

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Future Islands Announce Tour and Share Video for “The Thief” (Plus Watch Their Colbert Performance)

People who aren’t there anymore out now via 4ad; stream the album and read our review of it.

Future Islands released a new album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore , last Friday via 4AD. Now they have announced some new North American tour dates and shared a video for the album’s “The Thief.” Plus last week they performed the album’s “The Tower” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the same studio where their 2014 Late Show with David Letterman performance of “Seasons (Waiting On You)” launched them to bigger success after going viral. You can also stream the new album and read our review of it from last week. Read the review here . Ivana Bobic directed the video for “The Thief.” Check it out below, followed by a stream of the album, the Colbert performance, and the tour dates.

Future Islands co-produced People Who Aren’t There Anymore with Steve Wright, who also mixed the album with Chris Coady. Future Islands is Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming), and Michael Lowry (drums).

People Who Aren’t There Anymore includes three previously shared singles. “Peach” was released in 2021. “King of Sweden” came out in 2022 and the band performed it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . “Deep in the Night” was shared in August via a music video and it was one of our Songs of the Week . When the album was announced they shared another new song from it, “The Tower,” via a music video. “The Tower” was one of our Songs of the Week . Then in November they shared another song from it, “The Fight,” via an animated music video (it was also one of our Songs of the Week ). In January they shared the album’s final pre-release single, “Say Goodbye,” via an animated music video.

The band’s last album was 2020’s As Long As You Are , which made it to #17 on our Top 100 Albums of 2020 list.

Read our interview with Future Islands on As Long As You Are .

In 2022 the band also shared a cover of Wham!’s “Last Christmas.”

Read our 2014 cover story article on Future Islands .

Future Islands 2024 Tour Dates:

North American Tour Dates: 6/19/24 - Roadrunner - Boston, MA 6/20/24 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY 6/21/24 - Franklin Music Hall - Philadelphia, PA 6/23/24 - The Anthem - Washington, DC 6/24/24 - Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts - Raleigh, NC 6/25/24 - The Eastern - Atlanta, GA 6/27/24 - Brooklyn Bowl - Nashville, TN 6/28/24 - Auditorium Theatre - Chicago, IL 6/29/24 - Palace Theatre - St Paul, MN 7/1/24 - The Sylvee - Madison, WI 7/2/24 - Royal Oak Music Theater - Detroit, MI 7/4/24 - Massey Hall - Toronto, ON 7/6/24 - MTelus - Montreal, QC 9/11/24 - Malkin Bowl - Vancouver, BC 9/13/24 - Paramount Theatre - Seattle, WA 9/14/24 - Revolution Hall - Portland, OR 9/15/24 - Revolution Hall - Portland, OR 9/17/24 - Fox Theater - Oakland, CA 9/18/24 - Shrine Auditorium - Los Angeles, CA 9/19/24 - The Sound - Del Mar, CA 9/21/24 - The Van Buren - Phoenix, AZ 9/22/24 - The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing - Santa Fe, NM 9/24/24 - Mission Ballroom - Denver, CO 9/26/24 - ACL Live at The Moody Theater - Austin, TX 9/27/24 - White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX 9/28/24 - Longhorn Ballroom - Dallas, TX International Tour Dates: 3/16/24 - Teatro Studio - Guadalajara, Mexico 3/17/24 - Vive Latino Festival - Mexico City, Mexico 3/19/24 - Centro de Convenciones Barranco - Lima, Peru 3/21/24 - Estereo Picnic Festival - Bogota, Colombia 5/12/24 - La Riviera - Madrid, Spain 5/13/24 - Sala Razzmatazz - Barcelona, Spain 5/15/24 - Sentrum Scene - Oslo, Norway 5/17/24 - Annexet - Stockholm, Sweden 5/18/24 - KB Hallen - Copenhagen, Denmark 5/19/24 - Grobe Freiheit 36- Hamburg, Germany 5/21/24 - Tempodrom - Berlin, Germany 5/22/24 - Carlswerk Victoria - Cologne, Germany 5/23 - 5/26/24 - Bearded Theory - South Derbyshire, UK 5/25/24 - Live at Leeds in The Park - Leeds, UK 7/26/24 - Latitude Festival - Southwold, UK 7/27/24 - Crystal Palace Bowl - London, UK 7/28/24 - Bristol Beacon - Bristol, UK 7/30/24 - Kelvingrove Bandstand - Glasgow, UK 7/31/24 - City Hall - Newcastle, UK 8/2/24 - OFF Festival - Katowice, Poland 8/4/24 - All Together Now - Waterford, Ireland 8/5/24 - Lokerse Festival - Lokeren, Belgium

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Future Islands are an electro synthpop trio from North Carolina, US who formed in 2006. The band consists of Gerrit Welmers (keys), William Cashion (bass/guitar) and Samuel Harding (vocals).

While all studying art at East Carolina University, Welmers, Cashion and Harding met and were inspired to create a musical side project, later joined by Erick Murillo on an electronic drum kit.

In 2006 the band self-released their debut EP “Little Advances” which helped to establish them on the underground scene, creating a small buzz. The following year they released a split EP alongside Welmers’ side project Moss of Aura.

Their debut album “Wave Like Home” was recorded in a skate shop in North Carolina and released through London based independent label Upset the Rhythm in 2008. Later that year Future Islands parted ways with Murillo, relocated to Maryland, US and focussed on continuing as a trio. During their US tour, the band recorded “Feathers and Hallways”.

In 2009 the band signed to Thrill Records and the following year released their second album “In Evening Air” which featured the singles “Tin Man” and “In the Fall”. Supporting the release of the album, the band spent the majority of 2010 touring relentlessly before releasing their triumphant third album “On the Water” which reached number 12 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.

2014 was a big year for Future Islands as they signed to the British indie label 4AD and released their eponymous fourth album “Singles”. Off the back of the album’s release, the band were invited onto The Late Show with David Letterman where they performed the lead single “Seasons (Waiting on You)”. With majestic synths and an abundance of emotional vulnerability as Harding sang of heartbreak infused with catchy pop beats made for an iconic display. The Letterman performance took social media by storm and had everyone talking about this magical spectacle even leaving Nirvana producer Butch Vig and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin mesmerised.

Live reviews

At this stage in 2014, most of us are probably pretty familiar with what to expect from a Future Islands gig. With the now-notorious Letterman performance, the Baltimore-based indie outfit demonstrated to the world that they're a wildly eccentric, ferociously feral and distinctly individual band – you'll never find a frontman quite like Samuel T. Herring. With his Steve Martin looks, neat'n'tidy crop, all-black tucked-tee get-up, he doesn't look the part of 'rock enigma', but he sure is. Watch him move. His dancing is entrancing; the flurries of whippet-quick jabs, lithe gladiatorial circling, bobs and weaves like a modern-day Ali, operatic gestures, audible chest-punching... the erratic list is endless, and honestly, only seeing Herring perform will do his presence justice.

However, he's also a formidable orator. Completely at ease on stage, his voice will ensnare you, even if he's not singing. If he is singing, there's basically no escape. Future Islands recently dropped Singles, their fourth record, to universal acclaim, and it's almost certain that they'll hit the upper echelons of End Of Year lists come December. Tracks such as “Seasons (Waiting On You)”, “Back In The Tall Grass” and “Spirit” are recent doozies, but older cuts like “Tin Man”, “Balance” and “In The Fall” are astonishing accomplishments too.

There's no band quite like Future Islands: live, they're a visual tour de force.

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“We’re Future Islands man, this is just what the fuck we do!” Truer words have never been spoken from the stage at Red Rocks. Sam Herring wore a joker’s grin as he addressed the growing crowd. Every drop of sweat that hit the stage threatened to combust as the man with endless dance moves marked his territory. The synthpop band who appeared on Letterman last year have been riding a rocket-like trajectory ever since, but who could have foreseen that a simple slot on a late night television show would set them on a flight path that would touchdown on the iconic stage in Morrison? Who could have seen that they would arrive on that stage just in time to open for one of their most iconic influences? It might have been an unlikely turn of events that got them there, but as they transformed their ‘opener’ status into something that more resembled a co-headliner, Sam Herring and the Future Islands proved that ‘what the fuck they do’ works just as well on the big stage as it did in places like Rhinoceropolis and Larimer Lounge. - See more at: http://ilistensoyoudonthaveto.com/2015/07/18/morrissey-future-islands-red-rocks-07-16-15/#sthash.brNQ4Tib.dpuf

I have been waiting a few yrs. to see them and finally got to hear them live. They played all the songs that I wanted and brought to life all the new songs. The crowd loved them and sang along to most of the songs. I talked to people sitting beside me and talked about new music, told them about crystal fighters, hot chip,les amazone afrique. We liked many bands from the past and Future Islands reminds me of the 80,s new wave vibe. I loved the vibe and had a great time. I enjoy the new album even more now that I heard them live. I have tickets for the oct/2017 show at massey hall, I will be going this time with a beautiful woman who loves the band too.

The crowd was mixed from young to older. I am 60 and am stillatit.

Next show for me will be the Specials. A week later I see Gary Clark Jr. I am hoping Crystal Fighters come to town and I get to see them..

My seat was broken and the staff found another seat for me to sit in and I ended up talking to people and enjoying a band I have been listening to for yrs.

Great show.

Massey Hall Toronto show starting with a standing ovation as they entered the stage. Future Islands put on an amazing show. Samuel sang his heart out and the audience sang, clapped and cheered through the whole show. I saw them a few months earlier at the Danforth where the audience were really into them..Massey Hall crowd were 10 times louder and standing up through most of the show. Samuel said it took 9 yrs. to get to this show and thanked us for being at the show. I have seen many shows this yr and this show had the best vibe yet.

Toronto fans loves Future Islands.

I had a great time.

I wished the bass player would crack a smile at some point of the show, with all the cheering I did not see him move or smile... like a robot

The keyboardist smiled a few times, the drummer was great and looked like he enjoyed being there as much as Samuel did.

Samuel had the stage and ran with it.

Loved the show !!!

This is the second time I have seen Future Islands, the first being a few years ago at the Laneway Festival in Singapore.

Both times they have delivered the goods, eclipsing the more staid sound that is present on their recorded material.

The singer is a fantastic performer live and gives it his all, as evidenced by the sweat dripping off him halfway through the gig. The rest of the band are not very animated but he more than makes up for the fact.

It got off to a good start with hits from the latest album (Cave)and the earlier singles album straight up. They played some very early songs in the sizable encore.

The singer commented on how very often they had visited Cologne. The audience was large and appreciative. The venue had few female toilets with a massive queue which put me off drinking.If the venue wants to make money off the bar, I suggest they address this issue.

Otherwise a great night out.

A Future Islands gig is something that has to be seen to be believed. Like watching a young Marlon Brando come back from the dead, take loads of drugs and start fronting an 80's synth band. The singer expends incredible energy in a series of increasingly intense and impassioned gesticulations to the audience, the light fixtures, the roof, anything that catches his eye. There’s a lot of chest pummelling with his free arm or wrapping it around his head or his neck, while his lower half goes off in all sorts of other directions, generally followed up with a suggestion that he’s just ripped his own heart out and handed it to you in tribute. The Brando reference makes sense if you look at pictures of Marlon in his early T-shirt wearing days, when he was all “Method” and gesticulation, rather than the later model. A stunning spectacle.

Seeing Future Islands is the best live experience I've ever had!

Their amazing songs are made better by Samuel

Herrings fantastic stage performance, which delivers pure adrenaline and emotion. He truly feels each song he sings on stage, and he doesn't hide any of it, resulting in the occasional growling or some quiet thoughtful moments on stage.

The rest of the band - Gerrit Welmers and William Cashion, as well as their drummer Michael Lowry - stays in the background, delivering fantastic music and beats for letting Herring do his thing.

On top of all the great music and performances, the band had a stunning light show, perfectly fitted for their performance which was a delight to watch.

I would absolutely recommend seeing Future Islands live!

Score: 10/10

This was my fifth Future Islands show in the last six years. They are always excellent and Sam leaves everything on stage. You should definitely see them live if you're a fan of their music. If you're not familiar with their music you will be glad you checked them out and will probably be a fan after one dose.

It's been great over the last few years seeing them gain some momentum and play some larger venues. The Greek as stated by the band was the largest headlining gig they've played. A long way from the first time I saw them at the Echoplex in 2011.

I have wanted to see this band play for a long time. Ironically, I missed them by about a month when I moved from Argentina where I had been living for 9 years when they played in Buenos Aires. Fortunately they came to play in DC last night.

The Antham is a great venue and the show itself was spectacular. I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotionally charged at a live show before.

Definitely watch this band live before you die:)

I've seen a lot of bands over the past years but Future Islands take the cake. They are unbelievable. Every song they have written is a hit not 1 bad song on any album. I've seen them live before and they blew my socks off. The moves and voice on Samuel are truly amazing like no one ever before. I even went back stage with them at Sydney! I know I'll never miss one of their shows again - truly unbelievable a must see....

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Want to see Future Islands in concert? Find information on all of Future Islands’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2024-2025.

Future Islands is not due to play near your location currently - but they are scheduled to play 42 concerts across 9 countries in 2024-2025. View all concerts.

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Today’s Song: Future Islands Embrace Yearning & Distance With “Say Goodbye”

Just days ahead of a new album gracing the airwaves, Future Islands are, once again, “all in” – betting big (as they always have) on the idea that love and loss can make you stronger, and that a deep longing in the soul can yield worthy dividends.

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Stream: “Say Goodbye” – Future Islands

F uture Islands are, once again, “all in” – betting big (as they always have) on the idea that love and loss can make you stronger, and that a deep longing in the soul can yield worthy dividends. Those two ideas are at the core of new single “ Say Goodbye ,” the most recent release off People Who Aren’t There Anymore – set to arrive in just a few short days this coming Friday (January 26th) via 4AD.

But those ideas are curious ones to consider indeed, knowing what we know now: The last time we heard from Future Islands in a proper LP format (2020’s As Long As You Are) , emotive and powerful lead singer Sam Herring was essentially chronicling the start of a relationship with Swedish actress Julia Ragnarsson.

And as Herring has said, this new album picks up in the middle, rather than the start – now, Herring has since split from Ragnarsson, giving these songs quite literally a much different color.

For a band that played just one show in pandemic-plagued 2020 – a virtual celebration of that year’s record – it’s been a long venture back, with a triumphant return to festival stages in 2021 and a characteristically colorful sonic output along the way.

There’s no rest for the weary, as it were.

“Say Goodbye” is a continuation, or rather a summation, of the never-at-rest world of Future Islands – the band memorably hit the road last year opening for the likes of Weezer, and they’ve graced the stage alongside indie dignitaries like Modest Mouse in recent years.

Along the way, they found time to lay the foundation for People Who Aren’t There Anymore via a series of one-off singles that now make up six tracks off the Say Goodbye single offering.

As seen on Say Goodbye , these one-off singles are certainly intriguing to view in a new light, given that they’ve hit playlists in spurts over the past two-and-a-half years and serve as snapshots of a moment in time for Herring.

Those tracks include 2021’s heart-wrenching yet life-affirming “Peach,” spritely 2022 release “King of Sweden” and brooding August 2023 single “Deep In The Night,” alongside impossibly energetic fall 2023 release “The Tower.”

That particular song signified the formal start of a sprint to the finish for this hotly anticipated LP.

Future Islands Make Triumphant Return with “The Tower” Off 7th Album 'People Who Aren’t There Anymore'

The band drew the title from an Albuquerque artist – and Future Islands fan – by the name of Beedallo, and a Beedallo piece graces the album cover.

And what’s on the record remains a true chronicle of love and loss – as most Future Islands records are. But this time, as they say, it just hits different.

The song “Say Goodbye” at first seems like an ode to love across time zones, dealing quite literally with the logistics of a different morning and night, but the song reads painfully and yet somehow tinged with a fleeting catharsis in hindsight (you might say this is another Future Islands staple, of course).

It also rather memorably carries on a long-standing idea within Herring’s lyrics: Perspective, of the person you were years ago and the person you are now, can prove invaluable. It’s easy to lose sight of that notion within the daily grind, or within the grind of being a touring band going on two decades, but for Herring, it never seems a deeper understanding is never far off.

Is this a positive or a negative? Within the world of Future Islands, it’s easy to experience both sides of that coin with a few short minutes.

When I don’t wanna say goodnight And every day without you Feels one closer to goodbye I just need to make this world seem right You just sleep tight, til I’m on your side Know you need to go to sleep There’s comfort knowing that at least you can escape this heat I’ll sit up and watch, this world burn bright I’ll be alright When you’re on my time

At the core of the song, above floating, shimmering synths, is drummer Michael Lowry’s characteristically tight timekeeping, a perfect canvas acting as a solid backbone while Herring ducks, dives, jumps and fist-pumps his way across stage.

Naturally, it’s not hard to imagine “Say Goodbye” acting as a worthy firestarter when Future Islands return to the stage in support of this LP.

For now, Future Islands’ tour schedule shows a series of March dates across South America, and a scattering of European dates across the summer – no doubt sure to be ramped up very swiftly on the heels of this next record.

Redemption, grace and acceptance surely won’t be in short supply when that time does come. Though it might be hard to say goodbye, Future Islands always speak to the notion that second chances arrive swiftly and when we least expect them.

Where the road leads from there is anyone’s guess, but this latest forthcoming record could prove a worthy lantern to light the way through the darkness.

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• February 14, 2023

Future Islands Announce 2023 Tour

Photo Credit: Morgan Sinclair

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Today, Future Islands announces their 2023 U.S. tour including Just Like Heaven Festival in Los Angeles and headlining dates across the country. This spring tour comes off the heels of a 59-date 2021-2022 world tour, marked with performances at Governor’s Ball and Austin City Limits.

Artist presale begins on Wednesday, Feb 15th at 12 PM ET. Tickets open to the public on Friday, Feb 17th at 10 AM local time. 

Future Islands U.S. Spring Tour 2023

5/5 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl Nashville*

5/6 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel *

5/7 Atlanta, GA Shaky Knees 

 5/9 Austin, TX ACL Live at The Moody Theater *

5/10 Dallas, TX South Side Ballroom *

5/12 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren *

5/13 Pasadena, CA Just Like Heaven Festival

5/14 Oakland, CA Fox Theater *

5/16 Salt Lake City, UT The Union *

5/17 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom ^

5/19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue ^

5/20 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom ^

5/21 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed ^

5/23 Detroit, MI The Majestic Theatre ^

5/24 Cleveland, OH The Agora ^

5/25 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Lanes ^

^ w/ Deeper

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Future Islands Announce 2023 US Tour Dates

Hitting the road this spring

Future Islands are preparing to hit the road across the US throughout Spring 2023.

The band will begin their next round of live shows on May 5th in Nashville before making stops in cities including Dallas, Oakland, Minneapolis, Chicago, and more, including appearances at both Shaky Knees and Just Like Heaven Festival . The 16-date trek will come to a close on May 25th in Asbury Park, New Jersey. JOON will open for Future Islands on the first half of the stretch, with Deeper then taking over afterwards as supporting act.

As for tickets, a  pre-sale begins this Wednesday, February 15th at 12:00 p.m. ET (use code TREEWAVE ), with general on-sale following this Friday, February 17th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster . Alternatively, tickets are available via  StubHub .

Future Islands offered us some yuletide cheer last November with a cover of Wham!’s classic “Last Christmas.” Their last album, As Long as You Are , came out in 2020.

Future Islands 2023 Tour Dates: 05/05 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville* 05/06 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel * 05/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees 05/09 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater * 05/10 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom * 05/12 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren * 05/13 – Pasadena, CA @ Just Like Heaven Festival 05/14 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater * 05/16 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union * 05/17 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ^ 05/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^ 05/20 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom ^ 05/21 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed ^ 05/23 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre ^ 05/24 – Cleveland, OH @ The Agora ^ 05/25 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes ^

* = w/ JOON ^ = w/ Deeper

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People Who Aren't There Anymore

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The Far Field

By Laura Snapes

April 10, 2017

Three years later, everyone is still talking about Samuel T. Herring’s dancing. If the details of indie rock’s most beloved fairytale have somehow escaped you, in March 2014, Future Islands performed their song “ Seasons (Waiting on You) ” on “Letterman.” Vibrating with intensity, Herring beat his chest, growled, and bobbed like the sneakiest featherweight in a heartfelt display that went viral and minted the Baltimore trio’s fortunes. The cult band became a fiercely in-demand live act—they played their 1000th show while on the Singles tour, and recently said that they could still be touring that record if they wanted to. The accidental origins of Herring’s dance came in 2004, when a car ran over his foot before a show. By taking this glorious accident primetime, you can’t help but wonder if he’s slightly shot himself in it, too.

Becoming public property on your fifth album is a tricky proposition—harder, possibly, than the so-called difficult second album after a breakthrough debut. By Singles , much of Future Islands’ fundamental development was behind them. The jittery mania of their 2008 debut Wave Like Home had smoothed into starry-eyed synth-pop melodrama, where New Order ’s bass lines met the pop fantasias of OMD and A-Ha . As Future Islands reached maturity, their fanbase ballooned on the back of a caricature and a single. How do you move on from that? Do you stay warm in the relatively secure spotlight? Or do you twist away and risk losing the more fair-weather elements? How many bands even take creative leaps 14 years after hopping in a van together, as they first did as Art Lord & the Self - Portraits? The Far Field , Future Islands’ fifth album, skews towards the former.

If Singles stepped up to meet the world, The Far Field mostly shrinks at its gaze. Future Islands have talked about the exhaustion and doubts that arose on their long tour, and this record’s insular focus plays like a protective shield. The scaffolding remains, but the upholstery is threadbare. Though the sound is familiar, the structures are less bombastic and their former gleam is somewhat muted. And as he agonizes over the legacy of two failed relationships—one recent, one canonical—Herring sounds utterly defeated. Although their circumstances are different, his forlorn performance recalls that of Nick Cave on Skeleton Tree and the unbearable sadness of diminished titans. While it doesn’t break much new musical ground, and plays against Future Islands’ reputation for excess, The Far Field ’s breathtaking sorrow is transformative.

The album takes more than its name from a poem by American writer Theodore Roethke. (Future Islands’ 2010 record In Evening Air is also named after one of his works.) Herring has replaced his simple lyrical scheme—sun/moon, day/night—with knottier, more poetic lines. Sometimes they’re too much. “No lack of ‘wouldn’t’ could be my undoing/No lack of trying/No lack of sighing, ‘loo,’” he rasps on the despondent “Aladdin,” kind of proving his point. Yet his grandiose phrasing conveys the desperation he feels as he grapples with lost relationships—and more so, with what it means to live with longing and regret at his core. “Is this a desperate wish for dying, or a wish that dying cease?” he asks no one in particular on “ Cave ,” letting Gerrit Welmers’ synth wash over his question. “The fear that keeps me going and going and going/Is the same fear that brings me to my knees.” Simply put, on the hurtling “ Ran ,” “What’s a song without you/When every song I write is about you?”

Herring grieves, loses faith, and flounders across The Far Field , and nowhere more so than on “Through the Roses,” the album’s emotional peak. He has candidly referred to it as “a suicide song,” written on a long drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains. “It just hit me in that moment,” he told Mojo , “this great sense of loneliness. I’d reached all my goals but all I found was the same loneliness.” He plots the distance between his joyous public persona and private sorrow, and exposes the sadness behind the spectacle: “I’m scared,” he sings, his voice cracking. “That I can’t pull through.” As “the clutch of nothing, the curse of wanting takes me whole,” he contemplates cutting his wrists. Herring has always lucidly understood the band’s appeal—that his unabashed exuberance allows their audiences to let out their repressed emotions, too. The naked pain of “Through the Roses” is both a beautiful song, and a profound gesture of trust and generosity from Herring. “But we can pull through together, together, together,” he insists at the end, and you believe him.

The mood lightens in The Far Field ’s second half as Herring does his best to move on. A impish, glassy rhythm peps up “North Star,” and on “Candles,” Future Islands try something totally different—a dubby yacht rock number that sounds almost comically seductive, but finds Herring serving up one of his quintessentially moony tributes. It works perfectly. “Baby I know,” he croons like a regular lounge lizard, “a little candle like you don’t deserve the hurt you’re going through.” And while it’s sort of a shame that Future Islands didn’t fill The Far Field with 12 songs as gorgeous and immediate as “Shadows,” the sadness that came before only makes Herring’s duet with Debbie Harry all the more wonderful. Hearing his voice age and tremble throughout the record gives it gravitas. Hearing Harry, at 71, sound wise and saucy and full of promise makes its hopefulness seem real. “These old shadows parade you like a fool!” she exclaims, trying to lure him back into the light.

Future Islands could easily have become single-trick jesters after “Seasons,” but The Far Field finds salvation in tragedy. Speaking with The New York Times recently, Herring said that he hadn’t yet worked out dance moves for this album. “It’s been difficult,” he said. “Hopefully people aren’t bummed out, like, ‘Where’s the new thing?’” You’d hope, for an album this tender, that this time their presence alone will be enough.

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