Future Thieves - “Get Up”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 4

Pairs Well With…Foster the People, Jukebox the Ghost, Jr Jr

Nashville alt-rock trio Future Thieves are embracing the brighter pop sides of their music on latest EP Emotional Cost, getting down to funky and modern, hooky rhythms. The band started more in the Southern rock vein five years back, but there’s always been hints of the catchy groovers they’ve now become. In addition to a couple minute-long, ambient-based tracks, Emotional Cost includes five songs that mostly sound like set-closing singles. “Get Up” is paced with new-wave synth pop as the driving force while “My Body” is borderline funk that bursts into a celebratory jam toward’s the song’s end. Closer “Out the Other Side” is a dreamy epic, a digitalized voice carrying the sweet, electronic R&B melodies and “I Don’t Think I’m OK” adds quick-paced percussion to the track’s soft/grand movement. Emotional Cost is a significant leap forward for the band in terms of tight performance and opening up their songwriting, a great time to catch the trio at SXSW 2020. (Kevin McStravick)