Future Islands
As Long as You Are
Release Date: Oct 9, 2020
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: 4AD
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Album Review: As Long as You Are by Future Islands
Very Good, Based on 9 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
Despite sporting three sublime albums to their name by 2014, the much-hyped Letterman appearance would eventually form the catalyst in propelling the Baltimorean four-piece from relative obscurity to newfound acclaim. Samuel T. Herring's passionate on-stage delivery emblematic of an artistic integrity inherent in their songcraft; yearning emotive fervour channelled through sonorous synth-draped alt rock - qualities the band, it appears, are in no rush to relinquish.
Based on rating 7/10
The difficult follow-up for Future Islands came just eleven years—and five albums—into their career. Like a Future Islands song, they were powering through at their own pace. But somehow they missed; as with their singles, it was inevitably going to kick into life. A fter building an impressive and now overlooked back catalogue, the band's breakthrough, Singles, arrived.
Based on rating 7/10
After making an album with producer John Congleton that added extra layers to their sleek synth pop sound, Future Islands take the reins themselves on 2020's As Long As You Are and add even more texture, drama, and almost Baroque touches to the arrangements. On it the band take another step further from their trademark sound of nimble bass lines, gloomy synth washes, pulsing rhythms, and Samuel T. Herring's desperately cajoling vocals towards something grander and more epic.
Based on rating 7/10
Future Islands' anthemic melancholy is still deep, still vast. On As Long as You Are, the band's sixth record, frontman Samuel T. Herring sings devastating dreamscapes into being as boldly as ever, hinting at new life with each gesture of resignation. Their music has always bled while suggesting the possibility of something better, something beautiful. Hope and longing meet in a sea of synths, drowning in one moment only to come up for air in the next. As Long as You Are is an album of culmination and release, of healing and introspection. On the 11-track foray through past and present, Herring belts about relationships, self-love and resilience..
Based on rating 6.5/10
Can you have too much of a good thing? Future Islands presumably don’t think so, judging by their 10+ years as America’s most predictably consistent band. Over the last decade, frontman Samuel T Herring and his bandmates developed a distinctive brand of wistful synthpop that took them from obscurity to international acclaim without compromise. The band’s consistency has been one of their greatest strength—if you liked their breakout hit “Seasons (Waiting On You),” there was much more to get stuck into—but 2017’s The Far Field felt like a dead end; a band retracing their past steps with diminishing returns.
Based on rating 6.1/10
Since Future Islands entered the national spotlight on live television in 2014 while promoting their fourth album, Singles, frontman Samuel T. Herring has made an entire career out of obsessive, deliberate public vulnerability. In past iterations of Future Islands, Herring's exploration of heartbreak felt like a bombastic release, a cut umbilical cord.
Based on rating 6
The phrase 'why fix what isn't broken' springs to mind upon first listen of Future Islands' newest offering Samuel T Herring is graced with the gift of story telling, and throughout the album - as he has done for the last decade - continues to pour his heart into every available crevice. Standout moments include the glorious single 'For Sure' - it's gospel-esque rhythm crashes into being, and leaves feelings of euphoria in its wake - it's only possible downfall being that the track wouldn't go amiss whatsoever on 2014 album 'Singles'. The recipe is right: Herring's blessed baritone vocals teamed with their trademark bittersweet synth and hefty baselines will continue to make for decent, honest albums for as long as the four-piece please, but the introduction of a faster, lighter tempo in tracks like 'The Painter' and 'Hit The Coast' could mark the beginning of a much-needed dive into uncharted musical waters.
Based on rating 3/5
Future Islands' clean-cut brand of synth-pop - all shiny keys, neat drums and plinky bass - eventually broke the group through to the mainstream in 2014 with frontman Samuel T Herring's raw, primal performance of 'Seasons (Waiting On You)' on The Late Show with David Letterman. Even though this collision of characteristics is certainly the band's gift, which continues to give here on sixth LP 'As Long As You Are', you can't help but feel it's also their curse. With the bombast of breakthrough album 'Singles' exchanged for a subtler, more restrained sound here, the LP suffers in lack of variety.
Opinion: Great
The Lowdown: Future Islands first truly caught the world's attention with the Letterman performance of "Seasons (Waiting on You)" that brought lead vocalist Samuel T. Herring's confident and expressive singing style into the viral limelight. This coincided with the release of Singles, their most polished album thus far and an encapsulation of all their post-wave aspirations.
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