Future Islands

Future Islands came together in Greenville, North Carolina, in 2006, rising from the ashes of a performance-art college band called Art Lord & the Self-Portraits, and two years later they packed up for Baltimore. Samuel T. Herring sings, Gerrit Welmers plays keyboards and handles the programming, and William Cashion plays bass and guitar. Their first drummer, Erick Murillo, left after the debut, Wave Like Home, and as a trio they built a cult following the hard way, touring relentlessly behind In Evening Air and On the Water.

Then came Singles, their fourth album, released by 4AD in 2014. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" is synth-pop with its heart hammering: a warm, rolling bassline, glistening keyboards and Herring pouring everything he has into a voice that swings from a croon to a growl. Critics named it the best song of the year, and the band's performance of it on the Late Show with David Letterman in March 2014, became the most-watched video on the show's YouTube page.

Drummer Michael Lowry came in as a session player for The Far Field in 2017 and was a full member by As Long as You Are in 2020. People Who Aren't There Anymore, in 2024, traced the collapse of Herring's long-distance relationship during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.