About
Future Islands built their following the hard way, years of relentless touring and three cult favourite albums before most people had heard of them. That changed in March 2014 when Samuel T. Herring's wildly physical performance of "Seasons (Waiting on You)" on the Late Show with David Letterman became the most viewed clip in the show's YouTube history and earned a reputation as one of the greatest live performances ever. The album it came from, Singles, released on 4AD, was a genuine breakthrough, with Pitchfork and NME both calling "Seasons" the best song of that year. The Baltimore synth pop group, built around Herring's intense vocals, Gerrit Welmers on keys and William Cashion on bass, added drummer Michael Lowry as a full member by the time they recorded As Long as You Are in 2020. Their seventh album, People Who Aren't There Anymore, arrived in 2024 and drew directly from Herring's experience of a long distance relationship falling apart during the COVID 19 lockdowns. Raw material, delivered with the kind of theatrical conviction that made that Letterman clip unforgettable.
