Songs of the year, number 9: Future Islands - For Sure

The perfect summer slice of synth pop, 'For Sure' slid into my heart as surely and subtly as it slid into the 6Music playlist. It was futile to resist its charms. What struck me the most about the song, or the band more generally, was Samuel T Herring's voice. That very lived quality in his voice. There's a creak there, a vulnerability there that provides another aspect to the song, that makes it something harder, less light, less summery somehow. That gives it an air of mystery and discord you wouldn't expect.