Supermodel

Here's my 5-star vote for a great second album by Foster The People. Anybody who's heard Foster interviewed knows he's smart. When Jian Ghomeshi, the Canadian radio host of "Q," asked him if he felt pressure to write another "Pumped Up Kicks," Foster said no. He said he had new stuff to say, and he wasn't going to stand still to meet the public's expectations. I've read numerous reviews and fan complaints about this very fact. FTP's first album, "Torches," was a beautifully produced commercial blockbuster with a sound that made people happy and they wanted more of same. The irony is that the very thing that made "Torches" great, namely Foster's talent, compels him to keep growing creatively. FTP will never produce cookie-cutter reproductions of itself. This is something to celebrate, not complain about. "Supermodel" arose out of two years of touring, visiting foreign countries, including Morocco and India, seeing how other folks live and absorbing new musical influences. The first song, "Are You What You Wanna Be," has a great Afro-pop vibe to it, as well as a personal/political message. "Nevermind" reminds me of Brazilian samba, with its big unison chorus. There's a snippet of a Beach Boys tribute in the a cappella "Angelic Welcome of Mr. Jones." It's a little pitchy, but trying to reproduce the famous Beach Boys blend ain't easy. As a big Beach Boys fan, I give FTP an A for effort on this one. (Having listened to the whole record in order many times, I think the purpose of "Mr. Jones" is to be an intermission, dividing the record in half. Its sound is completely different from anything else, it's light, it's short, and it transforms the mood entirely.) The end of "Act 1," as it were, is the standout track "Pseudologia Fantastica" -- ambitious, dramatic, almost orchestral, full of beautiful melodies, heavy textures and hard emotions. But great dance hooks are not dead and gone. "Coming of Age" and "Best Friend" are excellent examples, two deep songs with a groove to match. Foster shows himself to be a vocal shapeshifter who can change the sound of his voice to fit the style of the song. On "A Beginner's Guide..." he dips down into his baritone register, which sounds amazing. The guy can really sing. Overall, the mixture of pop, rock `n roll, and world beats is really interesting. There are electronic effects and samples but it feels organic. Lots of unexpected melodies and harmonies. The guitar is featured in different styles, and acts like another voice that changes from song to song. "Ask Yourself" and "Beginner's Guide" have beautiful guitar bridges. I like the acoustic moments, especially in the haunting last song ("Fire Escape"), which expresses the pathos that underlies a lot of Foster's writing. As with "Pumped Up Kicks," the lyrics are heavy, but the music is mostly upbeat. If you like to delve into lyrics, you'll hear more of Foster's pet topics: merciless self-scrutiny, how to deal with fear, the importance of living an authentic life despite the risks, the dangers of addiction and depression, and how easy it is to lose one's way in a superficial world that values money and looks over inner substance. And now there's a political call to action as well. "Are You What You Want to Be" refers to Nigerian activist-musician Fela Kuti, "dissidents" and "the war machine." Not just ear candy, this. "Supermodel" is inspired. It's a sophisticated, inventive, complex and beautiful set of songs that's also very emotional. But it's not "Torches." "Supermodel" is something different, from a talented group with an expanded vision of the music they want to make. For fans with open ears and hearts who are paying attention, "Supermodel" is not only different, but really good.

I thought Torches was a phenomenal CD; I, however, am incredibly partial to this CD. I am absolutely impressed by these boys with this album, it is a work of art from the first to last song. What sticks out most to me is the song-writing. Perhaps I am particularly in love with this album because many of the lyrics are geared toward introspection and evaluating one's life. As I mentioned in the title, a very mature turn from Torches. Mark Foster has always proven he is a gifted song writer but the topic on this album is deep, aware, and modest. Already within the first four songs on this album the following statements are made, respectively: "These things ask the biggest question to me and it's: Are you what you want to be?", "Is this the life you've been waiting for? You're hoping that you'll be where you want with a little more."," When my fear pulls me out to sea and the stars are hidden by my pride and my enemies, I seem to hurt the people that care the most.", and "It's hard to know the truth in this post-modernist view where absolutes are seen as relics and laughed out of the room." The lyrics aren't the only element that feel matured. As others have stated, you hear more guitar and integration of other instruments and less of the synth-sound that Torches had a lot of. And as always, Mark Foster's vocal range shines throughout the album. Their first single off the album, "Coming of Age" is an honest indicator of what this album holds. If you're a fan of it, you'll love this album. If you're on the fence about it, well, I would recommend you give it a try anyway. This CD is one of the greats.

It's easy to be nervous about the second album of a band that you really like, but have no fear! FTP seems to be branching out and trying new sounds and new subject matter. There's a lot of new types of instrumentation that we didn't hear on Torches, heavier guitar in Beginner's Guide, soft mellow acoustics in Fire escape, but there is still the groovy peppy upbeat stuff spread around in the album. Mark Foster hits some uncharacteristic low notes and even evokes a little Bowie in places, but he still sounds like Mark Foster. Torches was an amazing album, but I'm really glad that there's some new stuff in here. Even as awesome as the last album was it's nice to have some new material that stands out a little. Really love A Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon. Killer album all around. UPDATE (3-25-14): Been listening to this album for the last few days. It is still amazing, but there might be a small downside that I can see, and that I've also made provisions for. FTP is trying out new stuff in Supermodel, and personally I think that they could easily be successful with any one or maybe several of their new directions. Already it makes me want more of each new direction they are exploring to flesh out and fully satisfy these new cravings. My solution right now is to put Supermodel and Torches as well as some of the miscellaneous singles and bonus tracks, etc, into one playlist and put it on random. Since I can't have a big 'ol pile of this great new stuff I want to feast on, it does very well as the everything-on-it type of arrangement for a Torches based pizza.

Coups de coeur: "Are You What You Want To Be?"; "Best Friend"; "Goats in Trees"; "The Truth" D'abord merci à Amazon qui m'a livré album à temps et sans aucun souci ! Je me souviens lorsque j'ai entendu parler de Foster The People pour la première. C'était en 2011, un ami qui me les avait fait écouté. J'avais de suite accroché puis je m'étais procuré Torches à sa sortie. Pas un jour passait sans que je n'écoute cette album. Ce groupe m'avait rendu totalement accro. Et puis 2 ans sont passés, plus trop de nouvelles, rien. Je me suis dit que ce groupe allait nous laisser tomber, nous les amoureux de l'excellence. Et puis il y a eu cette annonce de nouvel album fin 2013 : mon coeur s'est enflammé de nouveau. Passons les détails et venons-en donc à l'album sorti le 17 mars dernier. Supermodel est une œuvre d'art et une merveilleuse histoire où Mark Foster semble vouloir se débarrasser de façon définitive de ses démons. On commence avec une remise en question (Are you what you want to be?). Avec la basse de Jacob Fink tellement envoûtante et le riff sublime de Foster, on a là une chanson très différente de ce à quoi le groupe nous avait habitué jusque-là, mais c'est superbe en tout point. Remise en question donc puisque notre personnage est questionné par lui-même. Vient ensuite "Ask Yourself" qui poursuit la même idée, où notre personnage est questionné par son subconscient sur sa vie: s'épanouit-il vraiment ? "Coming of Age" est la chanson qui selon moi résume cet album : le groupe est arrivé à maturité et le démontre parfaitement avec cette chanson très proche d'un "Helena Beat". "Nevermind" est une ballade assez sympa (le petit riff acoustique fait un peu bossanova, bon choix) avec là encore une conversation psychique qui en devient déroutante à la fin. "Pseudologia Fantastica" et sa sonorité très electro est une chanson complexe, mais réussie (peut-être un peu trop longue ? Je chipote.) et Mark Pontius y joue sa meilleure performance. Passons l'instrumental qui nous amène tranquillement à "Best Friend". "Best Friend" est un hymne à la gloire de l'amitié. C'est très funky (très bon boulot de Jacob Fink une fois encore). Excellent. "A Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon" nous plonge dans le côté sombre et spécial de l'album, la meilleure partie. Là encore, notre ami fait face à ses démons et l'ambiance electro couplée à la guiatare électrique est bien réalisée. "Goats In Trees" est LE plus de l'album, la ballade parfaite qui confirme les cinq étoiles. Au son de l'acoustique, ce personnage solitaire semble perdu, sans espoir (du moins avant la fin de la chanson où l'espérance pointe le bout de son nez). Foster est bouleversant et laisse parler son coeur. "The Truth" nous ramène encore vers Torches (Waste me vient de nouveau à l'esprit) et clôt en quelque sorte le périple du personnage qui semble sur la voie de la rédemption. Le synthé accompagne de façon merveilleuse la voix de Foster. Enfin, "Fire Escape" est la sonnette d'alarme de leader charismatique de FTP envers son Los Angeles adorée. Belle conclusion. Pour résumer, cet album est celui de la maturité. Là où Torches rassemblait un ensemble de bonnes chansons mais semblait répétitif et peu varié, Supermodel montre que ce groupe a du talent à revendre tant sur le plan musical (avec de superbes variétés sonores) que celui de l'écriture (il faut vraiment prendre du temps pour analyser les paroles et comprendre ainsi l'album). Petit bémol ? Il est court mais franchement, c'est pas du tout un problème vu que Torches est plus court. Très inspirés, les types de FTP pondent là une oeuvre d'art qui, je l'espère, va rester longtemps. Probablement incomprise, il est certain qu'après plusieurs écoutes, l'idée principale derrière cet album se dégage. Bravo Foster The People, un des groupes les plus talentueux de ces dernières années.

Não vou falar do álbum em si, porque quem gosta de Foster conhece a peça. Falando desta edição em vinil em particular, é excelente. O som é impecável, assim como a apresentação gráfica da capa e encarte, que vem com letras, desenhos, tudo coloridão, com uma impressão de ótima qualidade e muito bonita. Vale a pena com certeza!

I loveeeee foster the people!

I have been living with this album a few weeks now, and have played it endlessly. I absolutely loved "Torches", and was very much looking forward to "Supermodel". Although it is lyrically darker, there are still the same great pop tunes and vocal harmonies running through this album. "Coming of Age" grabs you straight away, as does "Best Friend" and a couple of other tracks. Some songs take a little bit longer to worm themselves into your brain, but, after a few plays, you find yourself singing along to all them. I for one am not disappointed with this album, and would certainly buy their next one .

Nice album as a follow up to "Torches". The band have taken a different approach in their sophomore outing and except for one song "Coming Of Age", the other songs feel ordinary. However this is a good for an evening of easy listening.