Melancholy really suits Future Islands. The weathered and characteristic vocals of Sam Herring, oft resembled to Tom Waits, adds a lot of weight to the words. He sounds like a man who has been through the rough, and therefore, the sentiment conveyed is much stronger when he sings lyrics such as the opening line "you couldn't possibly know how much you mean to me" and the repeated "I am the tin man" on the chorus.
... I am also a sucker for the sound of steel drums.
Future Islands - Tin Man
Dance Yrself Clean surely has to be one of the best album openers of the year. Slowly grinding away for the first three minutes, with no indication of living up to the word dance in the title, it suddenly kicks you in the gut with a massive synth. It is surprising in the best possible way, and serves brilliantly to emphasise the narrative of the song. Lyrically, the song seems to deal with the experience of growing older. The feeling of somehow being past your prime and the frustration that comes along with that feeling. The lyrics are ever so well written (extract below video) and really shows what great a lyricist James Murphy is - although, we already knew that with songs like All My Friends and Someone Great.
LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
Extract from lyrics:
(...)
Don't you want me to wake up?
Then give me just a bit of your time.
Arguments are made for make-ups,
So give it just a little more time.
We've got to bring the resources,
I'm gonna play until the time comes,
Forget your string of divorces,
Just go and throw your little hands up.
It's late, I miss the way the night comes
My friends know how to make it feel good
The basement has a cold glow,
Though better than a bunch of others…
So go and dance yourself clean,
Go and dance yourself clean, yeah,
You're blowing marxism to pieces,
Their little arguments to pieces,
(...)
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