The Future is Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats' third studio album. The band comprises of Rateliff (vocals, guitar), Joseph Pope III (bass), Patrick Meese (drums, percussion, keys), Luke Mossman (guitar), Mark Shusterman (organ, keys), Andreas Wild (saxophone), Daniel Hardaway (trumpet) and Jeff Dazey (saxophone). Since debuting their first album in 2015, the band has gone on to perform on Saturday Night Live and have their music featured in the film, Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake.
Their latest album, much like its title assumes, reflects on the present times and the future that comes afterwards, all while exploring the evolution of the band's own sound.
“I look at the album overall as a big question,” Rateliff says. “When I was writing the record we were in the middle of a pandemic and our future looked pretty bleak. I just continue to try to write from a place of hope. Then my own neurosis, and maybe being a libra gets in the way, and I can’t make up my mind. There is this constant back and forth battle in me personally and I am sure that comes out in my writing.”