Forced to delay the tour supporting 2020's As Long as You Are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Future Islands worked on new material and began releasing singles in 2021, starting with the brisk yet tender "Peach." The defiant "King of Sweden" and swaying slow jam "Deep in the Night" followed, with additional tracks and covers leading up to the early-2024 release of the band's seventh album, bearing the hard-hitting title People Who Aren't There Anymore. Co-produced by Steve Wright, who mixed the group's previous album, and mixed by Wright and Chris Coady, producer of the 2014 breakthrough Singles, the album includes all of the group's original songs from "Peach" onward, delivering the sort of passionate yet introspective performances that have long been Future Islands' trademark. Like so many of the band's records, People Who Aren't There Anymore is another refinement rather than a reinvention or bold step forward. It feels slightly less glossy than some of their other 4AD releases, coming a little closer to the lo-fi textures of earlier albums, but from the perspective of artists who have been working hard for nearly two decades. Samuel T. Herring's ferocious growl/croon remains as dynamic and distinctive as ever, and years of playing with a live drummer have cemented the group's energetic drive. "King of Sweden" makes for a triumphant, attention-catching opener, then "The Tower" takes a much darker tone with its haunting melodies and lyrics that hint at disturbing characters, while looking on the bright side by proclaiming "everything looks stronger in the light" during the optimistic chorus. The synthwave-ish "Give Me the Ghost Back" closely ties in with the album's title, pining for the past while reflecting on friends whose lives ended tragically. On "The Fight," the record's most successful ballad, Herring faces the stark realization that he's alone and the safety of the past is behind him, but he's still determined to soldier forth for the rest of his life. This resilient spirit has always been present in everything Future Islands have done, preventing them from sinking even as life gets unbearably heavy. ~ Paul Simpson