When I first came across Future Islands‘ solemn and serene album On the Water, I was in depths of a New York winter seeking desperately for inspiration. Sam Herring seemed to be speaking directly to me, assurring me there would be change, for better or worse. Ballads bearing raw emotion and vulnerability, two qualities rarely seen in a city where people build personal barriers for protection, I envied the essence of their message. Once I learned they originated from North Carolina the connection deepened significantly. The Southern slogan of “remember who you are,” rang true in Future Islands lyrics and being from South Carolina I was intent on following their progression as a band, eager to hear what’s next.
Cut to three years later, now living in L.A. with a fuller understanding of what I want, who I am, and where I’m headed, I was ecstatic to hear of a new Future Islands record in the forecast to be released by 4AD. After hearing their single Seasons (Waiting On You), it seemed as if Samuel Herring, William Cashion, and Garrit Welmers experienced a similar growing experience. Returning to their roots, the trio headed to a hunting cabin in NC to write fresh material after five years of touring. They emerged with an album solid from front to back offering an intricate portait of self discovery. In a recent interview, Future Islands noted,
“we’re definitely of the school of thinking that an album should be a whole experience, because those are the sort of records we loved growing up. We’re not of that iPod culture where you listen to one or two songs and that’s what you know; we’ve always wanted to make these complete works.”
Mission accomplished! An excercise in emotional honesty, its seems Samuel Herring will burst if he doesn’t unleash each lyric as a soul bearing soliloquy. Relishing in his own range, every Future Islands performance has a sense of variety fans yearn for when seeing a live show. They’ve woven this live element into the fabric of Singles. Remnants of their first band, Art Lord & the Self-Portraits, can be found in the undercurrents of this magnificent album and Herrings growling only adds to the intrigue. He simply states,
“We’re trying to make music that we can believe in, that’s unpretentious and that can exist in a universal way, and that extends to lyric writing. It’s about simplifying statements so that everyone can understand them, but still giving them a powerful meaning. Live, it’s all about challenging people emotionally; for me showing vulnerability on stage is an attempt to open people up to their own emotions. I feel like in this day and age we hide from emotions because we feel it makes us weak, it’s like we can’t be strong if we’re honest with ourselves.”
Seeing them live seems to be the all the rage right now, as their viral and viceral performance on Letterman has certainly helped them grow their audience. SXSW seemed to be teeming with legend of their live performance and it’s easy to see why!
I couldn’t be prouder to see Carolina natives gaining long deserved recognition! Disarming audiences across the world with stellar songs seeking a deeper truth. Singles is available now so do yourself a solid, download it, hit play and float away!
BUY SINGLES.
