Future Islands

The Far Field

4AD

IT sometimes feels like there's a generation of North American bands living and working in various hipster enclaves – Brooklyn, Portland, San Francisco, Montreal – who operate at one remove from the visceral, favouring perfectly sculpted form over emotional content. Thank heavens then for the Baltimore-based trio of Samuel Herring, Gerrit Welmers and William Cashion.

Like veteran indie favourites The National, they wear their heart on their musical sleeve. But where The National favour a widescreen, guitar-based approach that leaves space for atmosphere and stillness to creep in, Future Islands blend synthesisers with pounding, New Order-style bass and to that propulsive mix add Herring's unashamedly dramatic vocals. In short, they're the closest thing indie rock has to a Hi-NRG act.

How appropriate then that on Shadows, the penultimate track of this, their fifth studio album, Herring duets with New Wave pop disco queen, Debbie Harry. Elsewhere it's hard not to be reminded of Soft Cell or early 1980s British synthpop band A Flock Of Seagulls, though comparisons between Future Islands and any other band are invidious: they have their own unique flavour, both on record and, as demonstrated at last month's Glasgow show, as a live act. Time On Her Side and Ran are the standouts here, but this is as complete a collection of songs as they have yet produced. After years of cult semi-obscurity, the breakthrough to arena status beckons.

Future Islands play Glasgow Barrowland on April 27.

Barry Didcock