Today, Future Islands announce the details of their new album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore, which will be released January 26, 2024. The seventh album from the band – Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming), and Michael Lowry (drums) – follows 2020’s As Long As You Are. People Who Aren’t There Anymore begins a new chapter for Future Islands who, despite having formed nearly two decades ago, continue to challenge themselves and each other.

Along with the announcement, the band shares a new single from the album, “The Tower”, alongside a video directed by Jonathan van Tulleken. This marks the second project Van Tulleken and Herring have worked on together — the two collaborated on Apple TV’s The Changeling, whose first season aired this Fall. On working with Herring on the show and with the band on the “The Tower” video, van Tulleken says:

According to a press release, “[Anyone who’s seen Sam on stage shape shift with his whole body and voice from heart wrenchingly tender to fantastically ferocious knows that he is a truly, magnetic, performer. This was no small reason why he was cast for a role in The Changeling…It was a role that would be no easy task for even the most seasoned actor but Sam…absolutely nailed it producing a riveting performance. I loved working with someone who came to acting via this persona they had built in their music…Finding that same captivating, haunting, performance but this time with the track as script.]”

“The Tower” is a music video that takes on a beach near a lighthouse. In the beginning, the listener is drawn to that lighthouse. “Threw a bottle // Across the water // To someone who’s // Thinking of me // There’s a tower // In the ocean // Pouring through me // That’s my will and testament”. Herring sings about how the lighthouse shines on the beach: “I, I, I am waiting on the other side, sigh // Looked out into everything and // I lie, tell myself, “it’s nothing”, when it’s quite right // Everything grows stronger in the light”.

There is this theme of innocence in the song; Herring may be referring to a piece of his childhood. “When a boy who // Played with razors // Met a girl who // Opened cages…And their laughter // Was contagious”. The bridge seems to allude to a lost friend: “Standing at the sea and swallowing // without you, beside you // But you knew what I knew”. The song ends with Herring repeating the chorus: “I, I, I am watching, I am waiting // I, I, I am waiting, I’m not breaking // I lie, tell myself, “It’s okay”, when it’s not quite // Everything grows stronger in the light”.

People Who Aren’t There Anymore will be released on January 26, 2024 and will be available digitally, on CD and cassette, and on standard back vinyl, transparent vinyl (indie retail only), and yellow & black ‘yolk’ vinyl with alternative artwork (4AD/D2C Exclusive). For pre-order information head HERE.

Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore
January 26, 2024
Catalogue Number: 4AD 0662
Pre-order HERE

Tracklist
1. King of Sweden
2. The Tower
3. Deep In The Night
4. Say Goodbye
5. Give Me The Ghost Back
6. Corner Of My Eye
7. The Thief
8. Iris
9. The Fight
10. Peach
11. The Sickness
12. The Garden Wheel