The 2014 Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown - #3

#3 - Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting For You)



Well folks, it's been a great year for the countdown. Lots of great music as always, but we do eventually have to come to completion. With that I bring you... wait, what? We're not at #1 yet? Oh crap. My mistake. Then the question I may pose here is how in the hell did this song wind up at #3?! When I look back at 2014 there is only one song that I immediately ran to the computer and listened to a dozen times on repeat after first hearing it. I mean, when I first heard "Seasons", it kind of glazed over me, but the next day I was lying in bed and it just hit me. Like, bang. Go listen to this song. Go listen to this CHORUS. Over and over and over and over again. "Seasons" has a massive soaring chorus where lead singer Samuel T. Herring pours all of his being into crooning over a love that has gone unrequited. You can feel the passion drip from the lyrics, even if you don't know or understand what he's saying. The lyrics seem a little odd, but the point has been conveyed; the singer has been waiting and waiting through the change of seasons for a love that will surely never come. Most of us can relate to this plight, but not all can express it in such a grandiloquent way.

The song is so massive. The keys soar along with Herring's vocals, as the drum and bass carry you along the path. The unfortunate thing about "Singles" (an awfully bold title) is that the album starts with it's best track and only goes downhill from there. How do you follow up a song that big, though? You can't, especially when you're band consists of keys, drums, bass and a singer. If you listen to it enough, "Singles" is a fairly good album with a few good tracks ("A Dream Of Me And You" being the next one to catch your ear, although it's unfortunately the last song), but all in all it ends up being a rather boring album that fails to drive as hard as the first single. And the video contains absolutely nothing of substance to go with the song, but the band did end up making an appearance on Letterman which ended up being one of the most viewed songs on Youtube for the show. In the video, you find Herring dancing around with child-like enthusiasm and a powerful voice that unfortunately loses it's wind half-way through and also at the end. I've seen other live videos of the band, and you can really feel the passion and emotion that flows through the song. But as it took the band 8 years to get signed and have a big single, I feel that they have reached their apex with this song. But what a song it is. I have both the official video (where you can hear the album sound) and the live Letterman debut, which was given quite a deal of praise when it originally aired.


(official)


(live)







Title: Seasons (Waiting On You)
Artist: Future Islands
Album: Singles



Previous #3s
2013: The Airborne Toxic Event - Timeless
2012: Walk the Moon - Anna Sun
2011: Matt and Kim - Good for Great
2010: Fear Factory - Final Exit
2009: Owl City - Fireflies