People Who Aren’t There Anymore

Pitchfork 6.6/10 The Baltimore band’s latest is another emotional tour de force that tests the limits of their long-running sound.

The Needle Drop 8/10 Future Islands' most vibrant album to date.

NME 3/5 The Baltimore band offer more of the soaring synth-pop they made their name on – but the songs can merge into one.

The Line of Best Fit 7/10 More than any record in their discography, People Who Aren’t There Anymore is as newly accessible as it is relishing in prior experience.

DIY 4/5 While the music is a little more inward, more reserved, it still carries all the hallmarks of the signature Future Islands sound.

All Music 3.5/5 This resilient spirit has always been present in everything Future Islands have done, preventing them from sinking even as life gets unbearably heavy.

The Skinny 4/5 Ten years after their breakthrough, Baltimore trio Future Islands continue to balance refinement with ambition.

Under The Radar 8.0/10 People Who Aren’t There Anymore isn’t likely to attract swaths of new Future Islands fans, but it is a gift for those who have followed the band since Herring busted a move on Letterman almost a decade ago.

Clash 8/10 Most importantly ... Future Islands’ fans will find plenty to love with this album, with some of the songs here already instant favourites and others feeling like some of the best, most fully realised of their career thus far.

Mojo 3/5 New ground is not broken, but happily, neither are they.

The Observer 4/5 Some perfectly constructed pop offsets dark musings on a record elevated by Samuel T Herring’s ever richer vocals.

Loud and Quiet 8/10 Whilst I may have previously dismissed Herring’s inflection as overly enigmatic, it’s clear that his voice is authentically wrestling with some of the most overbearing emotions.

Slant 2.5/5 With their seventh studio album, the Baltimore band offers up more of the same.

Pop Matters 8/10 Future Islands’ new LP is that rare album where you might find yourself with the unusual but life-affirming compulsion to dance and quietly sob at the same time.

The Guardian 4/5 The synthpop quartet’s heart-on-sleeve frontman, Samuel T Herring, is by turns lovelorn and lovestruck on their affecting seventh LP.

Spectrum Culture 80% The expressiveness that has become a hallmark for the group is still there, but it cuts deeper and feels more real than it has in recent years.

Beats Per Minute 76% People Who Aren’t There Anymore was not written as a reflection but a documentary of the emotional processes the band members were going through at the time. The meaning of the songs will continue to change for the band over time, just as they will for listeners.

Uncut 7/10 No curveballs are thrown. However, the band's debt to OMD and New Order is increasingly less obvious, while the earlier bombastic synths are being edged out by a more spacious, less forceful style of electronic poo that recalls fellow Baltimorean Dan Deacon, with echoes of Peter Gabriel.

Hot Press 8.0/10 Creating catchy, synth-driven pop that stands up to both repeated listens and intense scrutiny. Their lyrics delve deeper than the average pop song into the human condition and the knotty reality of relationships.