Past Islands
- A review of Future Islands album ‘People Who Aren’t There Anymore’ by Sam Edmonds
The seventh album from Baltimore alternative act Future Islands is a gentle, connected, synth infused affair.
For those uninitiated or not long-term fans of the band (myself included) comparisons with contemporaries The National jump out immediately. Dense lyricism, nostalgic and familiar progressions anchor a pleasant low-tempo experience. That being said - if The National are your divorced middle management dad, Future islands sound a bit more like your camp music theatre loving uncle.
Things are a little more bombastic, a little more whimsy but no less potent. Singer Samuel T. Herring has more of Anthony Warlow than Morrisey delivery to his forceful melodies, but can still channel some of The Smith’s frontman’s imagery. “I met the King of Sweden when I was walking in the headlights, drowning in a bender,” he admits on album opener ‘King of Sweden’.
Side One closer ‘Corner of my Eye’ is a sentimental ballad that serves as a mission statement for the record. This is less Future Islands than Past Islands, Herring is spending a lot of time thinking of those that have passed before him, celebrating them and their impact. “Cause I can't take you or make you, I just have to move on. It's perfect, so it's done”
The arrangements and synth layering serve every track beautifully, creating a gorgeous dancey album you can grieve too. Maybe it is a new genre? EGM (Electronic Grief Music)? Or perhaps New Order coined that approach long ago.
For fans and newcomers this is a sweet spot to jump in on the Future Islands cruise. There’s complexity in emotions, but accessibility and humanity in its approach. I can see this record being exactly what some people need in 2024.
