Foster the People
embrace an upbeat, classic disco and dance-funk vibe on their fourth studio album, 2024's
Paradise State of Mind
. Produced by lead singer and songwriter
Mark Foster
with bandmate
Isom Innis
, the album evinces the heady '70s and early-'80s style of artists like
Chic
's
Nile Rodgers
, producer
Giorgio Moroder
, and
Prince
. It's a throwback aesthetic that's been bubbling underneath all of their previous work, but which they joyfully bring to the fore here, and this joy is present even as
Foster
ponders the seemingly troubled state of the planet, whether ecologically or politically. It's a dichotomous balance of thoughtfulness and hedonism that he brings to the lead-off track "See You in the Afterlife," a funky anthem in which he debates whether to party or cower in fear, singing, "Well, it's European summer and the weather's lookin' kind of mean/Well I'm thinking of a holiday, what's the weather like in Kiev." The nods to war and global warming set to a shimmering and buzzy,
Prince and the Revolution
-esque groove, nicely puts the dancing on the precipice of a volcanic tone of what's to come. It's a whole aura that permeates the rest of the album as he dives into the electro-disco of "Lost in Space," the summery slow jam "The Holy Shangri-La," and the equally sun-soaked "Sometimes I Want to Be Bad," psychedelic-infused tracks full of woozy analog synths and rubbery basslines that often sound improbably like
Flaming Lips
covering
Earth, Wind & Fire
. With
,
have made an end-of-summer album full of cathartic grooves. ~ Matt Collar