Review - Foster The People

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." - Plato

Foster the People's 'Torches', is a celebration of everything music should be. It's full of soul, joy, happiness and most of all a fluent rhythm that makes you close your eyes and forget about the world around you. 

Foster the People have made a lasting impression on the music industry with their first record "Torches". Not only is it a great feat for the band, but the fact that Foster the People have only been together for two short years highlights the glory and passion that seeps through the headphones by the bucket-load. The album not only has a beautiful upbeat-ness to it, but "Torches" could quite easily be listened to in a comfortable arm chair next to a fire place. 

Since Mark Foster founded the band in 2009, Foster the People have done nothing but climb the music industry ladder. They found success when their single "Pumped Up Kicks", (which features on the album) went viral on the internet. The song gathered the attention necessary for Foster the People to start playing small gigs and building a fan-base before finally taking part in festivals such as Coachella and South by Southwest. It was in June 2011 when Foster The People released "Torches" and arguably created the best Indie pop album that year. 

Torches is an album that boasts personality from the get go. The song "Helena Beat" which pumps through the headphones as the first track is one of the best openings to any album I have ever heard. I've always been a strong believer that music should catch your attention from the very start, otherwise you'll be left disappointed, and Torches is a prime example of this. The album slaps you in the face with it's electronic pop and then rubs the pain away with it's soothing tunes, charming quaintness and beautiful lyrics. "What's your style and who do you listen to? Who cares" is a personal favorite line of mine, which doesn't need explaining. Not only are songs such a "Call It What You Want", "Waste" and "Life On The Nickel" lyrically amazing, but they are songs likely to make you smile and think of somebody close to you. The album shows great balance with it's fast paced songs, to it's laid back ones and never fails to be interesting. The second half of the album itself seems almost experimental, like Foster The People didn't want to keep repeating themselves and want to keep their audience guessing. It's an album that you could listen to on constant repeat, and find something new on each play through.

As for the album artwork, well it's quite brilliant. It screams the styling of different pop culture references from "Where the Wild Things Are" to "Domo". It's simplicity and lack of colour represent the album. Being the first record of the group, it is like Foster the People had a blank canvas to create what they wanted and the flames in the album artwork simply represent the warmth that this album creates. Also, the vast amount of different characters and their shapes, I feel, represent the songs on the album. No two songs are alike, and each song comes with it's own personality and style that will leave you in a difficult position in trying to choose your favourite. 

Overall I would say Foster the People's album is a huge success, that isn't to say it's without it's flaws. Some might argue that it's quite out-dated, bands like MGMT have done this genre to death already. But I think Foster The People take the genre into their own hands and shape it their own way, giving it a different feel and vibe compared to similar sounds of other indie electronic bands. Foster the People show great talent and determination in their album and present their music in such a unique way, which is both innocent and beautiful, truly beautiful.