Torches (album)
Torches is the debut studio album by American indietronica band Foster the People, released on May 23, 2011, by Startime International and Columbia Records. 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 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.[6][7][8]
Torches
May 23, 2011
2009–11
38:24
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, the US,[9][10] the Philippines, and Canada.[11]
The non-album single "I Would Do Anything for You" was featured on The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments during the early 2010's before all commercial music was phased-out in favor of their own, in-house compositions.
Background and recording[edit]
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,[12] earning the band a booking at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2010,[13][14] 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.[15]
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.[15]
Promotion[edit]
"Call It What You Want" was also used in the soundtrack of the football video game by EA Sports, 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."[19][20] 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.[21][22]
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.[23] In August 2021, Torches X (Deluxe Edition) was announced to mark the album's tenth anniversary. Released on November 12, 2021, it features a cover of "Pumped Up Kicks" by Gus Dapperton.[24]
Commercial performance[edit]
Torches debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 33,000 copies in the first week. On April 28, 2014, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of a million copies in the United States.[40]
Technical