The fate of the furious: three years ago, Future Islands upended The David Letterman Show with a synthpop burlesque of such unexpected passion that it rocketed them on to a new, elevated career trajectory. The viral spike of that Seasons (Waiting on You) performance may have supercharged their profile, but the Baltimore-based trio already had three albums and years of road experience under their belt (literally, since Samuel T Herring remains one of the most committed shirt-tucked-in frontmen in rock).
Their new album, The Far Field, might sound a little cold laid out on a Spotify slab, but live Herring’s tireless graft pumps blood and thunder into their precise sonic template. For the most part, bandmates Gerrit Welmers (creator of glacial synth atmospherics) and William Cashion (restless, striving basslines) simply stay out of his way, which seems eminently sensible once Herring starts throwing spinning back-fists and impulsive karate kicks that resemble a collision of MMA and MDMA.
What this heartsick Zumba creates is an infectious atmosphere of nervy energy and communal love. In a sprawling but propulsive set of 25 songs, Herring’s only real breathers come during spontaneous but sustained outbreaks of applause from a sold-out crowd determined to match the weaponised sincerity onstage. The adoration pushes Herring to new heights of performative kamikaze, including Cossack-style dance squats, sensual hip thrusts and even a C-3PO robot move. After an impressive encore of Grease, his now-untucked shirt wringing with sweat, he admits: “It was about 2004 when I last tried to do the robot.” It is a joy to behold.
- At Leeds University Refectory on 28 April. Box office: 0113-380 1332. At O2 Academy, Liverpool, on 29 April. Box office: 0844-477 2000. Then touring
