Torches (album)

Torches
Studio album by Foster the People
Released May 23, 2011
Recorded 2009–11
Genre
Length 38:24
Label
Producer
Foster the People chronology
Foster the People
(2011)		 Torches
(2011)		 Supermodel
(2014)
Singles from Torches
  1. "Pumped Up Kicks"
    Released: February 1, 2011
  2. "Helena Beat"
    Released: July 26, 2011[3]
  3. "Call It What You Want"
    Released: December 2, 2011[4]
  4. "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)"
    Released: January 10, 2012[5]
  5. "Houdini"
    Released: May 15, 2012[6]
Promotional singles
  1. "Broken Jaw"
    Released: 2012

Torches is the debut studio album by American indie pop band Foster the People. It was released on May 23, 2011, on Columbia Records and Startime International in the United States.

In 2010, the group parlayed the popularity of frontman Mark Foster's song "Pumped Up Kicks" into a record deal with Startime International and wrote the album to back up the song's popularity. "Pumped Up Kicks" proved to be a sleeper hit; after receiving significant airplay on modern rock stations, the song crossed-over onto contemporary hit radio and became one of 2011's most popular songs. Four additional singles were released from the album: "Helena Beat", "Call It What You Want", "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)", and "Houdini", which had previously been released as a promotional single in the United Kingdom prior to the album's release.[7][8][9]

Torches received generally favorable reviews from critics and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. The record peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 in the US and number one on the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia. It has been certified platinum in Australia and the US,[10][11] Philippines, and Canada.[12]

Background and recording

Not long after the band formed, frontman Mark Foster wrote and recorded the song "Pumped Up Kicks" while working as a jingle writer at Mophonics. The song proved to be the band's breakthrough in 2010, going viral,[13] earning the band a booking at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2010,[14][15] and garnering attention from music industry professionals. Brent Kredel and Brett Williams were hired to co-manage the group and helped them obtain a record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International in May 2010.[16]

After the record deal was finalized, Kredel said, "The focus was to stop everything and not work on any marketing or touring, but to make an album that backed up 'Pumped Up Kicks.'" To avoid the band becoming overexposed, Startime allowed the group to pace themselves and not rush an album that would cash in on the popularity of the song. Isaac Green of Startime said, "You can't control everything, but you can be meticulous about the music." From July to September 2010, the group wrote new material that would appear on Torches, and they chose Paul Epworth, Rich Costey, Tony Hoffer and Greg Kurstin to co-produce the record with Mark Foster.[16]

Packaging

The cover artwork was designed by Young & Sick (formerly known as Japayork), a friend of Mark Foster who was interested in doing illustrations for an album.[17][18] The group's drummer Mark Pontius explained the origins of the artwork:[19]

We argued about that artwork forever. I think I was the only one who didn't like it. I love his artwork but I had a different image in my mind for the record cover. But I ended up being happy that I lost the fight because it ended up that the characters on the front became this whole world that we ended up including in our live show and on our merch and our website.

Promotion

"Call It What You Want" was also used in the soundtrack of the video game FIFA 12. Houdini appears in the soundtrack to SSX. The song "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" is prominently featured in two Nissan commercials titled "Headroom" and "Legroom." [20][21] The song was also used in the soundtrack of the racing game Forza Horizon. The music video for "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" was featured in stereoscopic 3D on the Nintendo 3DS's application Nintendo Video. Foster the People appeared as the musical guest on the October 8, 2011 episode of Saturday Night Live, playing "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini". Kenny G appeared as a guest performer on the latter song.[22][23]

Through the iTunes Store, the album is available with the bonus track "Broken Jaw" (which was released as a Record Store Day single limited to 1,000 copies). Best Buy features a CD with the bonus tracks "Love" and "Chin Music for the Unsuspecting Hero". Certain independent record stores included free remix EPs with the purchase of CD or vinyl.[24]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[26]
The Austin Chronicle[27]
Entertainment WeeklyB[28]
The Guardian[29]
Los Angeles Times[30]
NME7/10[31]
Pitchfork Media6.2/10[32]
Q[33]
Rolling Stone[2]
Spin7/10[34]

Critical reception

Torches has received generally favorable reviews. According to review aggregator website Metacritic, it has received an average critic score of 69/100, based on 20 reviews.[25] AllMusic described the album as a "catchy, electro-lite dance-pop that fits nicely next to such contemporaries as MGMT and Phoenix."[26] Rolling Stone said, "their debut is genre-juggling, bedroom-dance-floor magic cut with moody-boy lyrics".[2] U2 guitarist The Edge singled Torches out as one of his favorite records, calling it "a very interesting new album. Very 21st century pop, but it's beautifully made and thrilling. You see, we're always interested in the new thing..."[35] Elton John also said that "Torches" was one of his favorites and one of the best albums of 2011. Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma stated on That Metal Show that Torches was one of his favorite new albums.

The album was nominated for the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, while "Pumped Up Kicks" received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.[36]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold 33,000 copies in the first week.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Mark Foster, all music composed by Foster, except where noted.

Torches
No. TitleProducer Length
1. "Helena Beat"  
 4:36
2. "Pumped Up Kicks"  Foster 4:00
3. "Call It What You Want"  
 4:01
4. "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)"  
 2:56
5. "Waste"  
  • Kurstin
  • Foster
 3:25
6. "I Would Do Anything for You"  
 3:35
7. "Houdini"  
  • Costey
  • Foster
 3:23
8. "Life on the Nickel" (Epworth, Foster)
  • Epworth
  • Foster
 3:36
9. "Miss You" (Zach Heiligman, Foster)
  • Kurstin
  • Foster
 3:39
10. "Warrant"  
  • Kurstin
  • Foster
 5:23
Total length:
 38:24

Personnel

Foster the People
Additional musicians

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Australia Australian Albums Chart[37] 1
Austria Austrian Albums Chart[38] 44
BelgiumFlanders Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[39] 69
BelgiumFlanders Belgian Alternative Albums Chart (Flanders)[39] 32
BelgiumWallonia Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[40] 99
BelgiumWallonia Belgian Heatseekers Albums Chart (Wallonia)[40] 1
Canada Canadian Albums Chart[41] 7
Netherlands Dutch Albums Chart[42] 53
France French Albums Chart[43] 29
Germany German Albums Chart[39] 87
Republic of Ireland Irish Albums Chart[44] 13
Japan Japanese Albums Chart[45] 49
Mexico Mexican Albums Chart[46] 30
New Zealand New Zealand Albums Chart[47] 18
Poland Polish Albums Chart[48] 47
South Korea South Korean International Albums Chart[49] 66
Switzerland Swiss Albums Chart[50] 49
United Kingdom UK Albums Chart[51] 12
United States US Billboard 200[41] 8
United States US Billboard Rock Albums[41] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
Australia Australian Albums Chart[52] 35
Canada Canadian Albums Chart[53] 42
United States US Billboard 200[54] 55
United States US Rock Albums[55] 8
Chart (2012) Position
Australia Australian Albums Chart[56] 35
Mexico Mexican Albums Chart[57] 76
United States US Billboard 200[58] 61
United States US Rock Albums[59] 18

Certifications

Region Certification
Australia Platinum[60]
Canada Platinum[61]
France Gold[62]
Poland Gold[63]
United States Platinum[64]

References

  1. ↑ Collar, Matt. "Torches". AllMusic.
  2. 1 2 3 Dolan, Jon (June 7–21, 2011). "L.A. trio crash the charts with spacey psych-pop thrills". Rolling Stone (1134–1135): 96. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations, Independent Artist Song Releases (July 26, 2011)". Allaccess.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2012. Archived by Wayback Machine from the original on July 23, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Call It What You Want (Remixes)". itunes.apple.com, Apple Inc. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  5. ↑ "Top 40 Mainstream Radio Adds (January 10, 2012)". Allaccess.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Alternative Radio Adds (May 15, 2012)". Allaccess.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  7. ↑ Mace, Amanda (July 21, 2011). "Foster The People – Torches (Columbia)". Addict Music. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Houdini – Single". itunes.apple.com, Apple Inc. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
  9. ↑ "Houdini: Foster the People: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
  10. ↑ "Accreditations – 2012 Albums". ARIA. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Gold & Platinum: Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Gold and Platinum Search: Foster the People". Music Canada. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Foster The People: An Outsider Anthem, A Viral Hit". NPR Music. NPR. May 26, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  14. ↑ Sanchez, Lindsay (2010-07-15). "Second Stage: Foster The People". NPR Music. NPR. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  15. ↑ Menze, Jill (2011-06-09). "Foster the People pumped up for all ages". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  16. 1 2 Peters, Mitchell (October 3, 2011). "Foster the People: How a Free Download Begat a Business". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  17. ↑ Denimu. "YOUNG & SICK DESIGN ALBUM ART FOR FOUR BILLBOARD NUMBER ONE RECORDS". Lost at E Minor.
  18. ↑ "Young & Sick used to be Japayork". BrooklynVegan. Buzz Media. January 29, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  19. ↑ Lake, Dave (June 13, 2012). "Tell Me About That Album: Torches by Foster the People". SeattleWeekly.com. Seattle Weekly, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  20. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy28I03ml4o
  21. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9bfWo1UsqQ
  22. ↑ "Saturday Night Live". Foster the People. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  23. ↑ Potts, Kimberly. "Ben Stiller, Anna Faris Hosting 'Saturday Night Live'". Reuters. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  24. ↑ Latest News | The Official Foster the People Site
  25. 1 2 "Reviews for Torches by Foster the People". Metacritic. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  26. 1 2 Collar, Matt. "Torches – Foster the People". AllMusic. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  27. ↑ Haupt, Melanie (September 16, 2011). "ACL Music Fest Friday Reviews: Foster the People". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  28. ↑ Anderson, Kyle (May 27, 2011). "Torches". Entertainment Weekly (1156). Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  29. ↑ Hann, Michael (June 24, 2011). "Foster the People: Torches – review". The Guardian. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  30. ↑ Brown, August (May 23, 2011). "Album review: Foster the People's 'Torches'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  31. ↑ Webb, Rob (June 21, 2011). "Album Review: Foster the People – 'Torches'". NME. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  32. ↑ Deusner, Stephen M. (July 12, 2011). "Foster the People: Torches". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  33. ↑ "Foster the People: Torches". Q (301): 119. August 2011.
  34. ↑ Walters, Barry (May 17, 2011). "Foster the People, 'Torches'". Spin. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  35. ↑ Howell, Peter (November 25, 2011). "U2's Bono and The Edge play favorites with music and movie". Toronto.com. Torstar Media Group. Archived from the original on March 4, 2013. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  36. ↑ "Foster The People Receives Grammy® Nominations for 'Best Alternative Album' and 'Best Pop Duo/Group Performance'" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 1, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  37. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – Australia". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  38. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – Austria". austriancharts.at. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  39. 1 2 3 "Foster the People – Torches – Belgium, Flanders". ultratop.be. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  40. 1 2 "Foster the People – Torches – Belgium, Wallonia". ultratop.be. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  41. 1 2 3 "Foster the People – Torches – US charts". Billboard. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  42. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – Netherlands". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  43. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – France". lescharts.com. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  44. ↑ "Top 100 Artist Album, Week Ending 22 September 2011". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  45. ↑ トーチズ (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  46. ↑ "Mexico Top 100" (PDF). AMPROFON. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  47. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – New Zealand". charts.org.nz. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  48. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS – Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. February 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  49. ↑ "Gaon Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Foster the People – Torches – Switzerland". hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  51. ↑ "The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart, Week Ending 14 January 2012". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  52. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2011". Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  53. ↑ "Canadian Albums Year-End 2011". Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  54. ↑ "Billboard 200 Year-End 2011". Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  55. ↑ "Rock Albums Year-End 2011". Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  56. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2012". Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  57. ↑ "Los Más Vendidos 2012" (PDF) (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  58. ↑ "Billboard 200 Year-End 2012". Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  59. ↑ "Rock Albums Year-End 2012". Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  60. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2009-10-26.
  61. ↑ "Gold Platinum Database – Displaying Search Results for Title: Toches – Artist: Foster the People – Format: CD". Music Canada. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  62. ↑ "French album certifications" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  63. ↑ "Złote CD - 2013". Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  64. ↑ "Gold & Platinum – Searchable Database". RIAA. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
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