Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore review

Write about what you know is one of the most pervasive clichés, but it’s close and more powerful cousin surely would be write about what you knew. Future Islands seventh album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore draws deep from a well of past experiences, of places and most especially people who’ve been in and out of the band’s lives during a period of change.

The most obvious adjustment since their last record As Long As You Are has been for heart-on-the-sleeve vocalist Samuel T. Herring, who after a relationship ended found himself living in the band’s spiritual home of Baltimore. This upheaval had followed the vexation of releasing an album during pandemic lockdowns, and inevitably much of the darkness stemming from these and other recent situations makes itself known here.

This doesn’t mean however that musically the changes have led to an abandonment of the quartet’s glistening synth pop. Herring has revealed that he was content enough to include material written before his split – King of Sweden, Say Goodbye, The Tower – although perhaps unsurprisingly these attain a new lyrical perspective in it’s wake. The most intimate admissions of all however are during the closer The Garden Wheel, from which at the end the singer vows to close this specific cycle of life and plunge into the next. People Who Aren’t There Anymore underlines that for some writing about what you knew remains the best therapy.

You can read a full review here.