Future Islands are a synthpop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, signed to 4AD. The band is composed of Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), and Samuel T. Herring (words and vocals). Future Islands formed in January 2006 in Greenville, North Carolina.

The band met and formed while studying art at East Carolina University in Greenville. Their first band was Art Lord & the Self-Portraits, which included Samuel T. Herring, William Cashion, Gerrit Welmers, Adam Beeby and Kymia Nawabi. That band lasted from February 2003 until fall of 2005. In 2006, Cashion, Herring, and Welmers formed Future Islands with Erick Murillo, who played an electronic drum kit.

Future Islands released Little Advances in April 2006 and a self-released split CD with Welmers' solo project Moss of Aura in January 2007. They recorded their debut album "Wave Like Home" with Chester Gwazda at Backdoor Skateshop in Greenville, NC later that year. London-based label Upset the Rhythm released Wave Like Home in the Summer of 2008. The cover art was designed by Kymia Nawabi, a former member of Art Lord & the Self-Portraits.

In late 2007/early 2008, the band relocated to Baltimore, MD. The "Feathers and Hallways" 7" was recorded in Oakland, CA, during their first U.S. tour and was their first release as a focused three-piece. Their second album, In Evening Air, was recorded in the band's living room in the historic Marble Hill neighborhood in Baltimore.

In 2009 the band signed to Chicago independent record company Thrill Jockey. Following a year of solid touring, they recorded their third album On the Water in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and released it in the autumn of 2011.

In early 2014, the band announced they had signed to 4AD, who would release their new album, Singles, in March 2014. The band made their network television debut on March 3, 2014, on The Late Show with David Letterman, performing the lead single "Seasons (Waiting On You)."

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