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Sacred Hearts Club

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Sacred Hearts Club is the third studio album by American indie pop band Foster the People, released on July 21, 2017, through Columbia Records. The album was preceded by the extended play III, which is composed of three tracks from the album. Departing from the organic, acoustic sound of their previous 2014 album, it draws upon soul, dance, and electronic genres while maintaining their signature indie pop sound. The lyrics address themes of love, politics, fame, and youth, and, similar to their previous albums, are often at odds with the upbeat musical production. This is also their first studio album to feature long-time touring musicians Isom Innis and Sean Cimino as official members. It received primarily mixed reviews upon release, with many critics praising the experimentation while disliking the album's lack of musical consistency. Despite the mixed reception, the album's single "Sit Next to Me" has reached a peak of number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 500,000 copies across North America.

Background

Foster the People began promoting new music following extensive touring in support of their second studio album, Supermodel (2014), in late 2016. During the recording sessions, Foster described waking up each day and witnessing tragedies, traumatic events and political scandals in the news; citing that the band sought to create an album of joy amidst the chaos of current events. The band performed three brand new songs, entitled "Pay the Man", "Lotus Eater", and "Doing It for the Money", at Rocking the Daisies Music Festival, announcing that they would release their third studio album. On April 5, 2017, the band announced a headlining summer tour in North America in support of the album.

The band released the three-track III (EP) on April 27, 2017. It is composed of three brand new tracks, "Pay the Man", "Doing It for the Money", and "SHC", all of which appear on Sacred Hearts Club. Each song was accompanied with a visual music video uploaded on the band's official Vevo channel. Sacred Hearts Club was formally announced on June 13, 2017, with the premiere of an online short documentary revealing the album's title and release date.[1]

Singles

The album has spawned three singles, "Doing It for the Money", released on April 21, 2017, "Loyal Like Sid & Nancy", released as the second single on June 30, 2017, and "Sit Next to Me", released on July 24, 2017 as the third single.[2]

Sound and influence

In the band's online short documentary titled Sacred Hearts Club (the beginning), it was revealed that the album "will feature '60s-inspired sounds and a psychedelic influence".[3] The genres of the songs primarily range from soul, R&B, dance, electronic to psychedelia. This is the first album to feature musical interludes between songs with the tracks ‘Orange Dream’ and ‘Time To Get Closer.’

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic56/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. ClubC−[6]
Drowned in Sound7/10[7]
The Irish Times[8]
NewsdayB+[9]
Paste7.4/10[10]
Pitchfork5.5/10[11]
Q[12]
The Skinny[13]
Uncut6/10[14]

Sacred Hearts Club received mixed reviews from critics, attaining a Metacritic score of 56 based on nine reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[4] The album was praised for its experimentation, while being criticized for a lack of consistency. Critics also noted a failure to recapture the band's old sound, often noting their breakthrough hit "Pumped Up Kicks" in reference. Numerous critics also praised the lyrical content and musical departure from their two previous albums.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Pay the Man"Mark Foster, Mark Pontius, Isom Innis, Josh Abraham, Oliver Goldstein, Justin Mohrle, Keinan Abdi Warsame3:53
2."Doing It for the Money"Foster, Innis, Adam Schmalholz, Ryan Tedder3:46
3."Sit Next to Me"Foster, Abraham, Lars Stalfors, Johnny Newman, Goldstein4:03
4."SHC"Foster, Innis, Pontius4:08
5."I Love My Friends"Foster, Innis, Abraham, Goldstein3:45
6."Orange Dream"Innis1:20
7."Static Space Lover"Foster, Innis, Jena Malone, Patrik Berger4:00
8."Lotus Eater"Foster, Innis3:02
9."Time to Get Closer"Foster, Innis0:57
10."Loyal Like Sid & Nancy"Foster, Innis4:40
11."Harden the Paint"Foster, John Hill, KNA, Frans Mernick3:54
12."III"Foster, Innis4:09
Total length:41:37

Personnel

Foster the People

  • Mark Foster – lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, piano, programming, synthesizer, vibraphone, production
  • Mark Pontius – drums, percussion
  • Sean Cimino – guitar, piano, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Isom Innis – piano, keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, backing vocals, production

Additional personnel

  • Austin Mensales – guitar
  • Derek "MixedByAli" Ali – mix engineering
  • Manny Marroquin – mix engineering
  • Chris Galland – mix engineering
  • Rich Costey – mix engineering
  • Martin Cooke – mix engineering
  • Nicolas Fournier – mix engineering
  • Jeff Jackson – engineering assistance
  • Robin Florent – engineering assistance
  • Cyrus "Nois" Taghipour – engineering assistance
  • Tyler Page – engineering assistance
  • Greg Calbi – master engineering
  • Steve Fallone – master engineering
  • Josh Abraham – production
  • Oliver Goldstein – production, drums
  • Lars Stalfors – production
  • Jena Malone – guest vocals ("Static Space Lover")

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 71
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[16] 54
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 85
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 180
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[19] 10
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[20] 84
US Billboard 200[21] 47
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[22] 8

References

  1. ^ "Foster the People announce new album, Sacred Hearts Club, plus North American tour dates". Consequenceofsound.net. June 13, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Foster the People Continue Their Danceable Streak with 'Sit Next to Me'". Baeble Music. July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  3. ^ "Foster the People Announces New Album Release Date for 'Sacred Hearts Club'". billboard.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Sacred Hearts Club by Foster the People". Metacritic. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  5. ^ Collar, Matt. "Sacred Hearts Club – Foster the People". AllMusic. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  6. ^ Moayeri, Lily (July 21, 2017). "Foster The People loses sight of who it is on Sacred Hearts Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  7. ^ Adcock, Lee (July 22, 2017). "Album Review: Foster the People - Sacred Hearts Club". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  8. ^ Bruton, Louise (July 20, 2017). "Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club review: easy on the ears and brain". The Irish Times. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  9. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (July 20, 2017). "'Sacred Hearts Club' review: Foster the People mixes catchy music, complicated ideas". Newsday. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. ^ Sharples, Grant (July 26, 2017). "Foster The People: Sacred Hearts Club Review". Paste. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Shoup, Brad (July 24, 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  12. ^ Everley, Dave (August 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Q (375): 103.
  13. ^ Gordon, Andrew (July 17, 2017). "Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club". The Skinny. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  14. ^ O'Connell, Sharon (September 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Uncut (244): 28.
  15. ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #431". auspOp. July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  16. ^ "Foster the People Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  18. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP (Week 30, 2017)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  19. ^ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  20. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  21. ^ "Foster the People Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  22. ^ "Foster the People Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
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