''Sacred Hearts Club'' is the third studio album by American
indie pop band
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...
, released on July 21, 2017, through
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. The album was preceded by the
extended play ''
III
III or iii may refer to:
Companies
* Information International, Inc., a computer technology company
* Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company
* 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company
Other uses
* Ins ...
'', 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 is also the band's final album to feature drummer
Mark Pontius, who left the band in October 2021. 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 two million copies across North America.
Background
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in ...
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
III or iii may refer to:
Companies
* Information International, Inc., a computer technology company
* Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company
* 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company
Other uses
* Ins ...
'' (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.
Singles
The album 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.
Sound and influence
In the band's online short documentary titled ''Sacred Hearts Club (the beginning)'', it was revealed that the album would "feature '60s-inspired sounds and a psychedelic influence". The genres of the songs primarily range from soul, R&B, dance, electronic, to psychedelia. The composition of the album included
programmed beats sampled from recordings of Pontius' drumming during live performances in 2013, also incorporating elements from the band's
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...
s. Foster has stated that the album was compiled from two distinct records' worth of material, one with a psychedelic/surf rock focus, and one within the genre of hip-hop.
Critical reception
''Sacred Hearts Club'' received mixed reviews from critics, attaining a
Metacritic score of 56 based on nine reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
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
;
Notes
* signifies a co-producer.
* signifies an additional producer.
* "Orange Dream" contains a sample of "
Prelude
Prelude may refer to:
Music
*Prelude (music), a musical form
*Prelude (band), an English-based folk band
*Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label
*Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...
", as performed by
Parliament.
Personnel
Foster the People
*
Mark Foster – vocals, synthesizer (tracks 1–5, 7–12); programming (tracks 1, 4, 10, 12), guitar (tracks 1, 3–5, 7–9, 11), bass (tracks 1, 3–5, 7–9), piano (tracks 2, 7, 10), tubular bells (tracks 2, 5), bass synth (tracks 2, 4), percussion (track 5), celeste (track 7),
Omnichord
The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...
(tracks 8, 9)
*
Mark Pontius – drums (tracks 1, 4), percussion (track 7)
*Isom Innis – drum programming (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 12), programming (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 12), drums (tracks 1, 2, 4–10), percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 10), synthesizer (tracks 2, 4–7, 10, 12), bass (track 6), piano, backing vocals (track 12)
* Sean Cimino – guitar (tracks 4, 5, 7, 8)
Additional personnel
* Austin Mensales – guitar
*
Derek "MixedByAli" Ali
Derek Ali (born November 1, 1989), better known by his moniker MixedByAli, is an American mixing engineer. His career began in Los Angeles in the late 2000s recording and mixing for Top Dawg Entertainment artists Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, SZA an ...
– mix engineering
*
Manny Marroquin – mix engineering
* Chris Galland – mix engineering
*
Rich Costey
Rich may refer to:
Common uses
* Rich, an entity possessing wealth
* Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling
** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting
Places United States
* Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...
– 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")
* Gabe Noel – cello
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2017 albums
Columbia Records albums
Foster the People albums