Three years after they won the hearts of synth-pop and indie rock lovers, Baltimore trio Future Islands returned with their fifth album. I can freely say that this is the first album the band has made knowing that it will be listened by many, as the live performance of Seasons (Waiting On You) on Late Show with David Letterman made them globally famous.
Just as spring wakes the nature up, so does The Far Field bring freshness and brightness into the discography of Future Island. Baselines of William Cashion are more up-tempo and more dominant than ever before. Sam’s lyrics are more narrow and his voice is softer. Welders is playing with synths and sound effects like a child. All of their creative juices make this twelve songs a soundtrack of summer road trip.
On the opening track Aladdin, the listener can easily spot the influences of The Cure, New Order, and the similar applies to love anthems Ran and Cave. These two tracks have infectious choruses and served as dance-pop promotional singles. Iconic Debbie Harry is a guest on Shadows, and you are totally left with an impression that the song is played on MTV, and the year is 1984. The most emotional and candid are Beauty Of The Road and Through The Roses. These are also the most powerful ones on the whole album due to the vulnerability of Sam Herring. I found myself singing these songs in the bathroom in a matter of two days.
The songs are abundant in repetition and synth-bass sections. Major themes include road, search, and departure. If you are wondering which road, maybe the one that leads to the far field in the album title taken from the poetry of Theodor Roethke.
Unfortunately, not as much can be said about particular songs as it could for the overall impression of the album. The impression is that The Far Field is weaker and messier than its predecessor. A lot of it flies in the air, and comes off as bunch of songs rather than coherent entity. Because of this, it reminds of the latest Father John Misty album where it can be felt that the artist is forcing us to believe his work.
The Far Field did not bring anything new in artistic sense. There are ample samples of modern synth-pop of Future Islands. The guys did not end up on the wrong side of the field, although they definitely played it safe.
