The Far Field

This is pop music designed to give you all the feels, and even with a disruptive pseudo-reggae track thrown into the mix ("Candles"), Future Islands prove that they can do it better than anyone else right now.

Future Islands seem to communicate certain fundamental truths about the travails and triumphs of themselves and their compatriots with an eloquence that is unparalleled by virtually any of their current peers; moreover, they have obtained access a significant international audience for their ideas without compromising their artistic approach.

An album ram-packed full of top-notch melodic synth-pop--a triumph from start to finish.

The Far Field is a triumph--it shows Future Islands refusing to buckle under newfound pressure, and instead creating another stellar record to add to their burgeoning catalogue.

The Far Field is a cathartic listen, an album that wears its emotions on its sleeve. It's all here, the good times and bad, the hope and despair, laid out for all to see and feel. It's rare that you hear albums that brazenly bear their writers' soul, while remaining this effortlessly enjoyable.

The Far Field is carried by light catharsis, diffused and mild-tempered fun, virtuosic vocal delivery, and steel-clean production.

There’s only one misstep: the slower Candles turns into a dispiriting trudge. Otherwise, The Far Field is another accomplished, engaging set.

On The Far Field Future Islands have captured their humanity in all its sparkling, chaotic glory.

Longtime listeners may recognize in this new album as a solid continuation what Future Islands have been selling for over a decade.

Largely, this is a set of songs that seep, creep and grow in strength, like opener ‘Aladdin’, ‘Time On Her Side’ and ‘Cave’.

While the album’s rear end succumbs to repetition, redemption arrives in the wistful Day Glow Fire and a bright-eyed duet with Debbie Harry on Shadows, where romantic doubts are treated as a spur to dream bigger.

What was previously disarming in its honesty, we now expect and prepare for. This doesn’t mean that the quality has suffered, it has just softened.

Future Islands still sound thrillingly marginal, people standing on an emotional faultline, waiting to be swallowed up. [May 2017, p.94]

To make warm, immediate pop music that sounds so out of the ordinary is a rare feat. [May 2017, p.106]

While it doesn’t break much new musical ground, and plays against Future Islands’ reputation for excess, The Far Field’s breathtaking sorrow is transformative.

Nothing on The Far Field is comparable to the sheer synthpop perfection of “Seasons (Waiting On You)”, but few things are, and Future Islands prove on this release that they have some serious staying power.

Future Islands haven't plateaued; they've managed a follow-up record that can look their best work in the eye.

Tthe songwriting is strong without being spectacular, and John Congleton’s production offers clarity but is somewhat lacking in edge.

The album rolls at a constant low boil, the agitation poking and prodding under the skin, not unlike the lingering, uncertain love. The Far Field isn’t explosive in its emotion, nor is it wallowing; it’s just constantly rolling forward, the wheels propelling Future Islands onward to the horizon.

The Far Field isn't a failure or a misstep, since there are so many good songs and their basic sound is still so strong. It's a shame that the band and Congleton felt the need to pretty things up, to make them sound more sophisticated and domesticated. It means that despite Herring's bravura performance, the album feels like a watered-down and lesser version of Singles.

The results are comically over-the-top but still warmly moving.

By confining themselves within the framework they have created, Future Islands have created an instantly recognizable, defining sound through which they can still forge surprises. The Far Field is so cohesive and well-played throughout that the boundaries are invisible.