Sometimes, it takes years to become an overnight sensation. So it was for Future Islands, a band who spent years toiling on the road, winning hearts and minds one gig, one city at a time before the world caught up to their heartfelt, euphoric post-wave. Yet success can be difficult to navigate too, a whole new set of issues straining relationships and a trusted approach to creativity. Burn out, self-doubt, unrealistic expectations; Future Islands have been through them all and emerged with As Long As You Are, an album that, in many ways, marks a return to everything that made the band who they are, and one that triumphantly begins their third act.
With As Long As You Are, Future Islands have created an album that looks back as well as forwards, that confronts old ghosts and new hope. It’s also one that “pushes the edges of what we do” according to Cashion; ballads are a beat slower and more dramatic, the upbeat tracks have a little more spark and urgency. And, above all, it’s a record full of searing honesty, redemption, and what singer Sam Herring refers to as “letting go”.
“As an artist, you always have fears that you’re just gonna get old and then people won’t care,” says Herring, “but this is what we’re supposed to sound like and, to us, it’s the best we’ve ever sounded. As Long As You Are is another step in defining who and what Future Islands is, and that’s really important.” As Long As You Are was released 10/9/2020 by 4AD on limited edition blue colored vinyl, standard black vinyl and CD.