Life is imperfect bodies, and perfect sounds

Having traded in the disquiet downbeat rhythms of their previous album As Long as You Are for something that combines introspective sentimentality with catchy beats and melodic basslines, Future Islands new album is as vulnerable as it is emotionally dense.

On first listen People Who Aren’t There Anymore is a more introspective album. The track listing spawns songs whose themes range from mortality, absence, and unrequited romance. Now with returning producer Chris Coady, the production has given the album a polished edge.

“The Tower” is an anthemic number that is enhanced by the precise percussion of drummer Mike Lowry, the pulsating basslines of William Cashion, and is tied together by the expansive synths of Gerrit Welmers. All of which is played to the uplifting boldness of Herring’s vocals. “Deep In the Night” is one of the ballads featured, and is one of the better ones in that regard. The track has an arrangement where the synths are indebted to that ’80s gloss, but thanks to Coady’s production and Herring’s sincere bravado, it does not suffer from the same sound that many ballads from that era have.

“Say Goodbye” has the crowd rousing, fist pumping traits synonymous with arena rock while still employing the same pulsating groove that wouldn’t feel out of place at a dance club. This arena-synth grandeur is continued on “Give Me the Ghost Back” as Herring enters with a subtle quiet verse, only to build up momentum that is released in a chorus of lofty crooning and Lowry’s machine precision beats.

Things start to become sonically repetitive on the album, as the next four songs retread motifs from the previous songs on the album and Future Islands past discography as a whole. “Corner of My Eye” is a more uplifting version of “Deep in the Night” adding more drama in the lyrics. “The Thief” and “Iris” sound like updated versions of songs heard from their debut Wave Like Home. “The Fight” has the same melodrama heard on their fourth album Singles. These four songs don’t add anything new to the album or to Future Islands sound, yet they’re not bad. This is in part to Coady’s production. What should be an example of a repetitive retread of their older work, is instead a reworking of their best material. Adding a layer of polish that makes the songs sound expansive and delicate. Combined with Herring’s matured songwriting, these four songs, while repetitive sonically and thematically, are still enjoyable to listen to and kept the album’s consistency up rather nicely.

“King of Sweden” and “Peach” remain unchanged from their initial single releases, still sounding as expansive and varied as they were released a few years ago. “Peach,” especially, with its diverse sonic palate of soft rock, city pop, and vapor like ambience. While “King of Sweden” goes for a more streamlined sound of psychedelic synthpop that serves its role as the album’s opener perfectly. “The Sickness” is certainly the weaker track on the album. The song itself is pretty average and is a repeat of “The Fight,” which at this point the listener already knows what to expect. Finally the closer, “The Garden Wheel” is a catharsis for the album’s lyrics. Bringing all the themes of the album to a close, the band arrive with the realization that they are not the same people they were before, yet still push on to see where they can go from here.

On one hand People Who Aren’t There Anymore has some of the best lyrics Herring’s written and the best produced album since Singles. Yet at the same time, parts of the album provide a more polished reworking of their previous efforts. Were it not for the skillful producing of Chris Coady, the album could’ve gone either way.  In the end, the biggest contributor that made the album shine was the musical chemistry between the four band members. Even in their more average moments, the musicianship of Future Islands exudes a level of finesse and credence that allows a band to reuse previous material and still sound engaging. People Who Aren’t There Anymore may not reinvent the wheel for Future Islands, but it will ensure that they’ll keep going to wherever their sound and lyrics take them.