On The Water is album number three for synth pop act Future Islands, I was a fan of this band after listening to the last release In Evening Air released about a year ago. Before I gave this album a listen I wanted to refresh myself with the band as I hadn't heard the album for quite some time. When listening it wasn't the band I remembered I liked it but I just couldn't figure out why I even liked it or why because of that album was I excited for On The Water.
The album starts with the album title track, the chimes in the back ground before the synth slowly builds and gets louder with the drums. I've always struggled to describe the vocals that Sam Herring produces because they just sounds a little different and unlike anyone I can think of off the top of my head. The opener is a laid back peaceful beginning something a bit more upbeat proceeds this in the track Before The Bridge I do enjoy the back ground synth on the track adding a bit of atmosphere to the track.
The Great Fire is a beautiful duet the backing is so sweet, the music is soft and adds really well to the track without going over what the vocalists are doing. The Tracks Open, Where I Found You and Give Us The Wind are all beautiful slower tracks that really are built on some nice synth giving the tracks some added atmosphere. While Close to None again bring s a bit more fun to the album the most upbeat synth pop track on the album.
The track Balance seems to also seems to go this route I wish more of the tracks were like this as they're much more interesting and fun then the slower stuff. The vocals on this and the rest of the album are quirky and beautiful making it an important part of the album. While not being my favourite thing on the album the slow songs are helped by some flowing atmosphere in the background.
The album is nice, but the more I listen to this album the more I feel let down by it all. It sounds great but song to song its a little bland at time and incredibly samey. With that being said of course I still dig this and many Future Islands fans will for sure its just not nearly as good as In Evening Air unfortunately.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
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