Album Review: Future Islands - Singles

Baltimore synth-pop trio Future Islands mark their 4AD debut with fourth album Singles. It isn't a best of – but it kinda is, because this is the most cohesive release they've put together to date. The hi-fi gloss and glam ups the ante on Samuel Herring and co's woozy dancefloor ballads, balancing new wave whimsy with wistful heartbreak on a dangerous knife's edge. Gerrit Welmers and William Cashion's taut yet gossamer instrumentation is sublime, driven by new conspirator Denny Bowen (Double Dagger) on drums – but it's Herring's vocals, warbling maudlin barbs with fervour, that drives Singles into the stratosphere.