Like a lot of people, I first became aware of Baltimore’s Future Islands on 2014’s breakthrough Singles album, but the band had obviously been around for several years before that establishing their moody, synth-based sound.

To commemorate 20 years as a band, 4AD has compiled and released the 80-minute double album From A Hole…, which compiles a huge chunk of released songs not on the band’s actual albums. B-sides, singles, rarities and demos are all rounded up here, with 10 of the 20 tracks coming prior to 2014. There isn’t much between 2014 and 2024, since the material was going to full-length albums, but the album closes with a couple newer, little-heard tracks as well as a new demo called “Rager.”

For fans, this is a treasure trove of stuff that’s difficult to find unless you were collecting the Tomorrow, Feathers & Hallways or Before The Bridge singles or the In The Fall EP. The only comparison I can think of off the top of my head is Oasis’ The Masterplan, which came shortly after the band’s third album and created a sort of parallel universe in which the band’s output was singles (A and B sides) and nobody had heard of “Wonderwall.”

So that’s the history here. Musically, though, there is very little here that will make anyone re-evaluate the band. Future Islands are not a band that releases synth-pop albums but has a secret B-side career of raging Iron Maiden covers or a hidden sense of humor or anything. It’s more of the same.

The surprise is in the energy level of the earlier tracks, both in the slightly sped-up tempos and in Samuel Herring’s voice. I suppose some maturation and deepening was inevitable, but it’s quite an adjustment to listen to the band’s 2024 album People Who Aren’t There Anymore and then listen to 2009’s “Pinnochio” and “Happiness Of Being Twice.” The new wave influences are all over here; the latter track is like a happier Cure with the organ line from Dire Straits’ “Industrial Disease.” It and “Find Love” are practically bouncy, and I never thought I’d say that about Future Islands.

Once Singles hit, though, the band’s best work started ending up on the albums… and at the same time, got a little slower and more repetitive (some might say dull). So the second half of Hole tends to drag a bit, one slow icy synth-pop sculpture blending into the next. Fans will appreciate “Rager,” though, an unreleased demo addressing depression and anger in a frank and honest way:

“Desolation leads you into desperate places / Idle hatred isn’t worth the time / And me, in my condition / Is this really real, or just an apparition? / I just need a little bit of validation / Staring at two lovers, locked in fascination / Starving for a molecule of their affection / Feeling like a parasite to their affliction / A feeling on the wheel that’s driven my addiction / Hands that pull me back into my isolation / The endless cycle blows me back to my depression.”

That sequence alone will strike a chord with many who have ever felt the same, and it’s a standout track toward the end of the compilation. From A Hole isn’t the best of Future Islands, but rather a way to complete the story of their first 20 years, and at least the first half is worth the occasional listen.

Rating: B-

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