Future Islands - Singles

Singles is the fourth studio album by American synth-pop band Future Islands, released in March 2014 by 4AD Records.

After a solid run of albums that showed growth each time, Future Islands explode into greatness on Singles. Streamlining their synth-heavy, experimental, almost danceable sound of the past into something laser-focused, new wave familiar, and very, very immediate, the album is a great leap forward that's filled with intensely catchy songs and allows vocalist Samuel T. Herring to shine. His singing style is a masterful performance that's matched by expert production and the work of bassist/guitarist William Cashion and guitarist/synthist J. Gerrit Welmers (as well as session drummer Denny Bowen).

The production smooths the group's sound out without sacrificing any punch, then layers in horns, backing vocals, and keys until the album shines like a well-polished diamond. It's a perfectly constructed sound that gives Herring the freedom to spill his guts without fear, and in the end works to make the record's title sound truer than they probably even imagined.

Every song sounds like a past, present, and future hit single, with ringing hooks, grooves that won't leave your hips alone, and the kind of cutting emotional depth that will leave blood pooling around your feet as it slashes you again and again.

Pick any song, like the achingly pretty Seasons (Waiting On You) or the understated Light House or the after-hours Roxy Music-inspired Like The Moon, and it'll be the kind of song that will stop people in their tracks in a crowded bar, the kind that you play over and over when you run across it streaming on a website, the kind that you tell all your friends about.

A whole album of songs like that feels like a dream come true. It's real, though, and the vocals, the songs, the music, and the production work together to make Singles a one-of-a-kind experience that's nearly perfect.

This album is on black vinyl housed in a single pocket sleeve with a printed inner sleeve and download, pressed in Europe via 4AD Records.