Future Islands
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids
March 25, 8 p.m.
$15 in advance, $18 day of show
All ages
pyramidschemebar.com, (616) 272-3758
Future Islands is a band that's not shy about examining the human condition. Since 2006, this synthpop trio out of Baltimore has churned out three albums exploring the complexities of love, the truths found in memories and even the deep emotional scars left behind by breakups.
This year, the band will release its fourth record, and despite signing with a new label, the recording of this album, like their others, was a self-funded endeavor.
"We do all of our albums ourselves," said Guitarist William Cashion. "We started off hanging a mic from a ceiling fan back in 2003."
"This is the first time we've ever been in a studio to record an album," Vocalist Samuel Herring added. "The others were in a house or a skate park, friends' houses, our houses. I think people are just surprised because it's a bigger label."
That bigger label being none other than British indie label 4AD (home of Pixies, et al.), a legacy Future Islands is excited and proud to be a part of.
"It's crazy to be on 4AD, right?" Herring said. "We worked our butts off to get here, and we're honored to be a part of it, but we feel like we earned the chance."
The band's debut with the new label is called Singles, a name that was chosen partly because each individual song carries the weight to stand on its own. And while the production of this one was taken in a slightly different direction, it's still very much a Future Islands album. Specifically, it's honest and true to who they are.
"You just have to be honest and write what you know," Herring said. "Just keep it simple and be true to ourselves and our craft and people will gravitate to it. ... The style is a more high-fidelity sound, but it's still so much us."
The group will tour the U.S. and Europe in support of the new record through the end of May. As for what to expect?
"It's going to be a mega-bomb," Herring said. "The biggest thing in our music and our live show is don't expect anything. We really want people to come to it with an open mind."
