Future Islands

If Future Islands’ songs once seemed like invitations to witness scenes from someone else’s life, People Who Aren’t There Anymore presents the whole absorbing saga, transmuting hurt to hope in the triumph of this band’s career. Here is excitement, devastation, understanding, and the dawn’s rays of redemption in 44 minutes—a record that, at last, commits the full rapture of Future Islands to tape.
From their start, Future Islands have been singular and instantly identifiable. Samuel T. Herring’s life-worn croons and cries backlit by Gerrit Welmers’ melodies and charged by the rhythms of William Cashion and Michael Lowry. That premise hasn’t changed on People Who Aren’t There Anymore, but the people have. There’s a pain and a joy that’s in Herring’s voice that’s only been rivaled by their legendary live performances, but never captured in their studio albums, that feels like it’s been untethered for the first time. Future Islands have played nearly 1,500 shows – shows that have bruised bodies, frayed vocal cords, provided escapes for audiences, and healed their messengers. People Who Aren’t There Anymore is a major work from a band at an inflection point: they’re discovering new ways to experience the world, because the old ways weren’t working. That freedom has led to the most fully realized, most transparently honest statement in their 17 years as a band.

With a single EP as an a cappella screamer-crooner to his name, Ed Schrader brought on bassist Devlin Rice to form the two-piece Ed Schrader’s Music Beat after the two met on the legendary 2008 Baltimore Round Robin tour. Rice’s presence instantly brought aesthetic focus to Schrader’s disparate musical tendencies. The primal screams were made driving and heavy and the visionary chants became post-new wave mood pieces. The evolution is unmissable on their first two records as a duo, Jazz Mind (2012) and Party Jail (2014).

On the Dan Deacon-produced Riddles (2018), the band exploded their sonic palette with the addition of synthesizers, player piano and a dedicated percussionist bringing to life a tracklist produced and co-written by Dan Deacon. Upon its release, the record garnered widespread acclaim. NPR called it an “odd and captivating piece of work.” Pitchfork called it “a defining point in their career.” Rolling Stone praised it as “a noise-punk album that bursts with psychedelic twists.” SPIN called it “a memorable and eclectic record … one that can bleed and weep and still make you want to get up and scream.

Since 2010, the duo has mounted several tours across the U.S. and Europe both as a headliner and in support of major acts Beach House, Future Islands and Dan Deacon. They’ve shared bills with No Age, Lightning Bolt, Matmos and Ceremony.

Their new record — the eerie, introspective Nightclub Daydreaming — is due out March 25 from Carpark Records..