REVIEW: Foster The People - Torches

Foster the People
Torches
(out of 5)

“Sometimes life it takes you by the hair, before you know it, it’s gone and you’re dead again”. Foster the People’s Torches opening line punches you right in the heart with its agonising semi-haiku of love and love lost.

It’s just as well the music they’ve created will get you dancing. The record gets the feet moving, heart beating and mind rolling. It’s an effective triage that overwhelms in all sorts of ways.

‘Call It What You Want’ casts disapproval on those who “like to label everything” (i.e., us music writers).  Though I like the track, I disagree with the sentiment. A lack of definition leads to confusion in all sorts of ways (music, relationships, whatever). Maybe I, too, am just “locked up in ideas”.

Following this, the solemn ‘Waste’ could be interpreted in a number of ways, but to me it’s a song about cutting ties, moving on and healing (“’How long?’ I say/How long will you relive the things that are gone?”). The longing continues in ‘Miss You’ – he’d “smile at the chance just to see you again”.

Torches is not all heartbreak, however - this is a dance record after all. ‘I Would Do Anything For You’ puts that smile back on your face, with the dreamy kid (i.e., Mark Foster) singing “I’ve fallen in love/and it’s better this time than ever before”. Good for him! And though some of the lyrical content can be a bit heavy at times, Torches ends on a high note.

‘Warrant’ is a celebratory anthem, with its warm piano lines driving the record home, leaving the listener with a fresh sense of freedom. “Got to get away/they want me alive or dead” – the record ends as it begins (lyrically speaking), which is the best way to do anything in life.

Dance-rock is very much the in-sound at the moment, and though Foster the People could be accused of simply following in the footsteps of the likes of Friendly Fires, MGMT, Cut Copy, etc, I genuinely think the group hold their own. Torches is a fun record; one that is definitely growing on me. I’m sure it’s got a few more spins in it yet.

Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks

Written by Theo Sangster.