Jonathan Bruce
READING TIME: 6 MINUTES
Foster The People is quite an unconventional band. Since their emergence into the pop culture
stratosphere in 2011, the indie pop/rock group has continued to defy industry expectations
and reinvent themselves both musically and stylistically. Their music does not fit neatly into one category or genre; rather, it blends different types of genres and influences to create a unique sound that is their own. Yet what makes them unique as artists is the ability to explore new sounds and not repeat their previous work.
Now, Foster The People are back with their fourth album Paradise State of Mind, which was
released last August. Currently, the group consists of founding member, lead singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Foster and keyboardist Isom Innis. Sean Cimino recently left the band just before the album dropped, but his guitar-playing is a solid part of the record. The revolving door of bandmates shouldn’t faze fans of the group, because this is a band in a state of evolution.

Paradise State of Mind album cover (Atlantic Records)
Torches, the band’s 2011 debut album, was very much a pop-rock record with indie
electronica and alternative dance beats. “Pumped Up Kicks” proved to be their breakthrough
song with a rhythmic baseline, cryptic lyrics about a school shooter, an anthemic chorus, and a whistling hook during the middle-eight. Follow-up singles “Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls”
and “Call It What You Want” became hits on the alternative charts. After two years of touring,
they return to the studio and came up with Supermodel, which was an alternative rock album
centred around themes of materialism and soul-searching. While Supermodel wasn’t a big hit,
the band kept touring and recording new music for the fanbase. Their third album, Sacred
Hearts Club, received more positive reception from critics and fans with its R&B-fused songs
and club influences. With this record, Foster The People scored another hit with “Sit Next To
Me”, which was heralded as a comeback song and a return to form. After an extended break
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the gap in recording and touring led people to wonder
whether the band would break up or continue. This concern was partially sparked after long
time drummer Mark Pontius left to raise a family.
Does the fourth album deliver the goods?
As an album, Paradise State of Mind is primarily a psychedelic funk record combined with
elements of post-disco, jazz, and gospel music. It almost brings to mind Bruno Mars’ past
work with his former production team The Smeezingtons on retro Philadelphia soul type music
with modern pop influences. However, this record does not retread old ground that the band
has covered on the previous albums. Foster has cited his love of exploring different
genres of music as a primary reason why he enjoys being an artist. As for Innis, his keyboard
playing is a major part of the album, and he’s stepped up as a band member and producer with
co-writing seven of the eleven tracks.

Foster and Innis (Atlantic Records)
Foster The People kick things off with See You In The Afterlife. The song provides an
alternative funk template with a soul music vibe in its lyrics about life and the associated
sensations. Perhaps most impressive are Foster and Innis delivering vocal harmonies, which
give off vibes of the Beach Boys. What’s more, it gives off a positive, hopeful outlook to what
lies beyond the material world.
Lost In Space centres around being stuck in fantastical daydreams. Foster’s vocals are altered
via vocoder to give off a robotic, otherworldly feeling. The song has elements of disco and
funk-rock within the composition. As a result, the effect feels like something by the 1970s rock
bands Le Chic and Lips, but this is by no means a bad thing.
Next up is Take Me Back, a song brings to mind a soft rock track with a steady funk backbeat.
The song is about going through life but having a rose-coloured, nostalgic view of the past.
“I’m always moving forward, but a part of me always waving back at my past life”, sings Foster. “Letting all my dreams take me downstream and bring me that much closer to the good times.” Indeed, the song is both relaxing and wistful in its entirety.
Let Go is a mid-tempo number about not worrying so much and to live in the moment. “I’m
breathing it in because I know I gotta let go of the feelings that are weighing me down,” sings
Foster. “Don’t worry, cause in time you’ll come around.”
Feed Me focuses on having one’s needs met via a partner. Innis’ keyboards are front and
centre, as Foster’s falsetto vocal croons about how a lover provides him with nourishment. “I
want to taste all you got- strictly digital,” sings Foster. “Give me all your love- be irrational. Give me all your love- we’re compatible.” All the while, the guitar and bass provide a solid, thumping rhythm. It almost feels as if one is in a dream-like state while listening to the track.
The title track Paradise State of Mind is about being in love and feeling a state of euphoria.
“Parade lives in a state of mind, the lines keep getting blurry cause we’re all afraid of life,” sings Foster. Despite the angst-filled lyrics, there is something positive and hopeful in the song, especially how the speaker is looking to find happiness.
Glitchzig is about find the strength to overcome challenges and fly once again. “I was a proper
broken, broken bird/Just twitching with my wings in the glass,” sings the speaker. “I hurt my
beak from sniffing too many things/And now the air's in my, I got some air in my wings." Foster’s vocals are altered to a robotic monotone, which gives off a somber feel of longing. The song also features a mournful trumpet solo in the outro.
The Holy Shangri-La is a funk pop song about believing in dreams to make it through
hardships. Innis’ piano-playing is front and centre here as Foster sings the lyrics: “Through
hard times/It’s okay to rely on something you're needing to believe in/To get through to the
other side/Cause in the good times we forget/We gotta hold on to the hope that we first
believed in/So we never get swept away.” What’s more, the track is a gentle and soothing
number to listen to.
Sometimes I Wanna Be Bad concerns how to cope with various emotions. It gives the vibe of a
1970s funk song with a Motown beat and an orchestral feel. The lyrics examine how one might
struggle with sadness and find peace of mind. For example, the speaker sings “Sometimes I
wanna be sad/And let the loneliness come and be my friend/Sometimes I wanna be bad/The
feelings carry me down/’Til I’m lost in my head.” Instead of being a doom-and-gloom track, the song is an easy one to listen to, and there is a flute motif that echoes throughout.
Chasing Low Vibrations deals with the passage of time and not trying to rush things. Foster
sings: “Time is moving faster when I'm counting down the/Days are getting longer when the life I live is/Free from all the water I was taking on from/Chasing low vibrations and f***ing up
everything.” The song has a soft-rock feel with a slide guitar and lush backing vocals.
A Diamond To Be Born closes out the album. It is a piano ballad and a slow, somber
exploration about trying to find true love and a better life. “I look at myself through a broken
lens/Try my best to keep from unraveling,” sings Foster. “And the child inside is looking out/
And holding on to the dream/That your love would cause a diamond to be born.” The vocals
are slowed down via editing, which gives an otherworldly effect a la John Lennon’s double
tracked vocals on The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever. It works as a nice, solid way to end
the 43 minutes and 48 seconds.

Atlantic Records
Overall, Paradise State of Mind proves to be a solid Foster The People album and a compelling
evolution of the band’s sound. The songs are well-crafted and beautifully-composed. Mark
Foster has grown as a performer, because he feels at ease when playing and singing. While the group is still Foster’s baby, Innis has really proven himself as a keyboardist and composer in his own right. Foster and Innis’ love of funk, soul, and gospel music are in full force, because the record feels both retro and contemporary at once.
The eclectic sounds on Paradise State of Mind also leave music fans to wonder what a
possible fifth Foster the People album might sound like. Since the band has explored pop,
rock, indie-electronica, alternative rock, dance, R&B, funk, and disco, there remains a lot of
potential ground that they could cover in the near future. Perhaps a punk-centric or a blues
rock album could further solidify how far they have come as men and bandmates. Still, the loss of Pontius and Cimino mean that the group is now a duo, so the next order of business is
finding a new drummer and guitarist. Either way, the group is no longer the “Pumped Up Kicks
band” of olden times or content to rest on their laurels. Instead, they’re going to keep exploring and reinventing themselves, and the world will be watching to see what they will be doing next. Exactly what the next chapter is has yet to be revealed, but it is going to be interesting. Four out of five stars.