Future Islands
The Far Field
4AD

Many moments in music will never be forgotten: the deaths of Prince and David Bowie, for instance, or when One Direction split up (devasta­ting!), but I’ll always remember a day in March, three years ago, when Samuel T. Herring, a chunky Kevin Spacey lookalike with the slinky hips of a 1970s disco king, created one of the greatest pop moments of recent years. Future Island’s performance of their 2014 track Seasons (Waiting on You) on the Late Show with David Lettermandeserves to go down in pop culture history, but this breakthrough arrived late for the Baltimore trio. They were already on their fourth record when their enigmatic frontman growled and shimmied in front of the cameras with unbridled passion. Thankfully, the indie-synth rockers, now a four­some, have the hooks to back up the spectacle, and their fifth album provides more bold, sweeping pop. Over rousing and trium­phant melodies, Herring’s pleading vocals are tinged with a lush sadness. Although nothing may ever quite match up to Seasons, the driving grooves of Ran and Cave show a band riding the crest of a wave.