Future Islands – On The Water

Future Islands – On The Water
Thrill Jockey: 2011

It can be hard to step into a concept album, but it can be even harder to make one.   

The latest Future Island album, On The Water is a honed version of previous works, where the variety of “In Evening Air” and the fun immaturity of “Little Advances” are both pushed aside for the imagery of a long, tear-stained love letter.

Samuel Herring’s renaissance fair of a voice exists on the plane between an emotional breakdown and spoken word, like a gasoline soaked rag swinging over a candle. It’s an impressive take on intonation that communicates well with other members of the band, like a maestro’s wand. And where instrumental technicality lacks, Herring’s voice picks up the slack. It’s charismatic and highly conductive for bleak emotion.

Each Future Island song is written like a soft-core romance novel. The plot boils down to promises, dedications of love, and a whole lot of implied sex. Previous albums included spurts of energy, but not On The Water.  Instead this album has the character of one long and unchanged reaction to an event, so whatever happened—happened on the last album.  

This album is worth the time of anyone reacting—with advice like “You can clean around the wound, but if you want it to heal, it just takes time,” you might find solace in this piece of work. But for the rest of us, this album is just one side of the story.

2.5 out of 5