FUTURE ISLANDS share new song ‘Say Goodbye’

At the end of this month, Future Islands will release their highly anticipated new album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore (26 January 2024). And today, they’ve shared another new song, ‘Say Goodbye,’ an examination of a long-distance relationship unravelling, with Samuel T. Herring crooning: “When I don’t wanna say goodnight / And every day without you feels one closer to goodbye / I just need to make this world seem right / You just sleep tight, til I’m on your side.”

‘Say Goodbye’ follows previously released songs ‘The Fight,’ ‘Deep in the Night’, ‘King of Sweden’ and ‘Peach’. More recently, the band shared ‘The Tower’ alongside a video directed by Jonathan van Tulleken (Top Boy, Shogun). This marks the second project Van Tulleken and Herring have worked on together following Apple TV’s The Changeling, whose first season aired this fall.

Check out ‘Say Goodbye’ BELOW:

Future Islands have been singular and instantly identifiable from the start, with Herring’s life-worn croons and cries backlit by Gerrit Welmers’ melodies and charged by the rhythms of William Cashion and Michael Lowry. That premise hasn’t changed on People Who Aren’t There Anymore, but never before has the band sounded so empathetic and Herring so integrated with what he is singing and how they sound blended like a dioramic mosaic.

People Who Aren’t There Anymore, the band’s seventh album, heralds a new chapter for Future Islands, who, despite having formed nearly two decades ago, continue to challenge themselves and each other. Where they’ve pursued ever-higher energy anthems in the past, they’ve turned inward this time and unlocked a new level of ferocity. The album delivers some of their most inspiring and heart-breaking tracks by doing the opposite: taking their time and making each breath, syllable and cymbal crash count. The result is a powerful, defining statement from a group of musicians that have made the best album of their career.

Future Islands is Samuel T. Herring (vocals, lyrics), William Cashion (bass, guitars), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards, programming) and Michael Lowry (drums). Future Islands and Steve Wright co-produced People Who Aren’t There Anymore. It was mixed by Wright and Chris Coady, who hasn’t worked with the band since 2014’s Singles.

Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring discusses ‘People Who Aren’t There Anymore’ in episode #156 of The XS Noize Podcast. Listen here.

Future Islands will be touring in Latin America during March 2024, playing shows in Mexico, Peru and Columbia’s Estereo Picnic Festival. See the full list of tour dates below, and for tickets and more information, head HERE.

Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore
26 January 2024

Tracklist
1. King of Sweden
2. The Tower
3. Deep In The Night
4. Say Goodbye
5. Give Me The Ghost Back
6. Corner Of My Eye
7. The Thief
8. Iris
9. The Fight
10. Peach
11. The Sickness
12. The Garden Wheel

Upcoming Tour Dates
16 March – GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, Teatro Studio
17 March – MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, Vive Latino Festival
19 March – LIMA, PERU, Centro de Covenciones Barranco
21-24 March – BOGOTA, COLUMBIA, Estereo Picnic Festival
23-26 May – SOUTH DERBYSHIRE, UK, Catton Hall and Gardens
25 May – LEEDS, UK, Live at Leeds in the Park
1-4 August – WATERFORD, IRELAND, All Together Now