o What: Future Islands, in concert.
o When: 11 a.m. (MusicfestNW) 10:30 p.m. (Doug Fir) Aug. 16.
o Where: Musicfest NW, Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Southwest Naito Parkway; Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside St., Portland.
o Cost: $65 to $100, free for ages 8 and younger with paying adult (MusicfestNW); $15 (Doug Fir).
o Information: musicfestnw.com; 503-231-9663 or dougfirlounge.com
On March 3, Future Islands performed the song “Seasons (Waiting On You)” on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” It was standard operating procedure in music biz promotion. Get on a high-profile TV show before or shortly after a new album is released and hope to make an impression that lasts beyond the moment when the show credits role and it’s on to the next program that day.
Future Islands, though, appears to have gotten much more than a momentary chance to put its name in front of record buyers. The performance — with singer Samuel T. Herring passionately articulating the emotions of the song while doing some mesmerizing bob-and-weave dance moves — struck a chord. Letterman himself shouted, “I’ll take all of that you got!” after the song ended and music fans clearly seconded that thought.
o What: Future Islands, in concert.
o When: 11 a.m. (MusicfestNW) 10:30 p.m. (Doug Fir) Aug. 16.
o Where: Musicfest NW, Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Southwest Naito Parkway; Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside St., Portland.
o Cost: $65 to $100, free for ages 8 and younger with paying adult (MusicfestNW); $15 (Doug Fir).
o Information: musicfestnw.com; 503-231-9663 or dougfirlounge.com
The video of the “Letterman” performance was soon all over the Internet and looking like it would be a viral sensation — just in time for the March 24 release of “Singles,” that album that features “Seasons (Waiting On You)” as its opening track.
Future Islands bassist William Cashion, in a recent phone interview, said it was hard to know how the “Letterman” performance had resonated right away.
“We were on tour, like basically we left from ‘Letterman,’ from the taping, and we had show the next date in Asheville, N.C.,” he said. “There were some people coming up to us saying they heard about us from the ‘Letterman’ performance and that they were real excited to come out. I don’t think we’re really sure what to expect. … We’re just excited that people are responding to it and it seems to be mostly positive.”
The impact of “Letterman” didn’t turn Future Islands into overnight stars. But the performance registered. The “Letterman” video has now topped 1 million views, and “Singles” debuted at No. 40 on Billboard magazine’s album chart — by far the best first-week performance yet for a Future Islands album. What’s more, the album received stellar reviews from taste-making websites such as Pitchfork and Consequence Of Sound, and appearances at several major festivals (including Coachella) have elevated the group’s profile. Future Islands may not have busted into the mainstream yet, but there’s a buzz.
The “Letterman” appearance (as well as a May performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”) gave a nationwide audience a glimpse into what the up-to-now fairly small fan base has known about Future Islands all along — that the synth-based group’s shows are just as dynamic and cathartic as the “Letterman” clip suggested.
“When we did the ‘Letterman’ performance, we were like let’s just do what we always do,” Cashion said. “So the performance was just the same level of intensity of the live show. But instead of just one song, we’re playing 15 or more. Yeah, it’s pretty accurate.”
Future Islands has been developing its sound and performing style since 2003, when Herring, Cashion and keyboardist/programmer Gerrit Welmers formed the group Art Lord & the Self-Portraits with two other friends, Adam Beeby and Kymia Nawabi.
That group evolved into Future Islands in 2006, with Cashion, Herring and Welmers were joined by Erick Murillo, who played electronic drums until he left the group in 2007. The group has gone on to release three previous full-length albums plus a variety of EPs and singles.
For “Singles,” Cashion, Herring and Welmers put in extra time. On earlier albums, 2008’s “Wave Like Home,” 2010’s “In Evening Air” and “On the Water,” the group members entered the studio with a quite incomplete picture of the album they were about to make.
“We’d have like five or six songs written, and then we’d go in the studio and we’d be like all right, now we need to write at least this many more for the album,” Cashion said. “With ‘Singles,’ we wanted to be really prepared.
“We had 25 (song) ideas (initially for ‘Singles’), and by the time we went in the studio, we had whittled it down to 11 or 12 songs that we were hoping to get recorded,” he said.
“Singles” figures to be seen as the best, most developed album from the band yet. While Cashion doesn’t like seeing Future Islands called a synth-pop band — he sees the group being more punk and classic R&B influenced — his band is often grouped in with synth-pop and electro-pop acts.
Future Islands, though, offers something many other such groups lack: strong songcraft, an edgy undercurrent to its sound and obvious emotion (courtesy of Herring’s gruff-but-expressive voice) instead of the chilled-out persona of many synth-based acts.
For touring in support of “Singles,” Future Islands has brought on a drummer, which should add a new dimension to the live sound.
“Bringing the drummer back is cool because it kind of links in with the early Future Islands,” Cashion said. “It gives the songs a new energy. The songs are already have an energy within them. But I think it gives them even more punch here and there. Like the drums can really accent what I’m doing on the bass or what Sam’s doing with the vocals or what’s happening within the song.”
