''Paradise State of Mind'' is the fourth studio album by American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

Foster the People Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members include founder and frontman Mark Foster (musician), Mark Foster and keyboardist Isom Innis. Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending ...

, released on August 16, 2024, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, their first under the label. It is the band's first studio album in seven years since the release of '' Sacred Hearts Club'' (2017), although they released an EP and a number of non-album singles between 2018 and 2021. The band initially planned on touring in 2021 in support of their EP ''

In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing ''In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing'' is the fourth extended play (EP) by American indie rock band Foster the People, and their first to consist entirely of non-album material. The band released it independently on December 11, 2020 ...

'' (2020) however the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

prevented them, leading to a hiatus where band members worked on other material and eventually started the process of songwriting and recording this album. The album artwork is an oil painting by Matt Hansel. The first single, disco-toned "Lost in Space", was released on May 31, 2024. The second single "Take Me Back" was released on June 28, 2024. The third single "Chasing Low Vibrations" was released on July 26, 2024. It is the band's first album not to feature their drummer

Mark Pontius Mark Andrew Pontius (born January 3, 1985) is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and drummer of the American alt pop band Foster the People; he left the band in 2021. Prior to joining Foster the People in 2009, Pontius ...

after his departure from the band in October 2021. It is also the band's final album to feature guitarist Sean Cimino as he departed from the band months before the album's release. The album has received primarily positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 75. Critics and fans praised the experimentation with popular music genres of the past and the quality of the production. It debuted at #8 on the Billboard Top Album sales, selling 7,000 copies during its first week, yet commercially underperforming, as it failed to chart high in other countries, something which has been attributed to the band's unofficial hiatus prior to its long awaited release.

Sound and influence

''Paradise State of Mind'' is primarily influenced by the music of the late 1970s-1980's with elements of

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, with songwriting inspired by such cultural events as the

, global conflicts like the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and lead singer Mark Foster's struggles with alcoholism such as the song "Let Go". Some themes explored through the album's lyrics include technology, mortality, time, self-reflection and optimism. Foster has stated his fascination with the music of the 1970s decade contrasted with the political, social and cultural changes of that time, drawing a parallel between the 1970s and the 2020s. It is also more of an analog record with less use of digital sounds and instrumentation compared to their previous albums.

Promotion

Following the 10th anniversary reissue of their debut album, the band's social media channels remained primarily inactive until May 2024 when the band started teasing new music. Various Instagram animated reels featuring clips of "Lost in Space" were released along with clips from the accompanying music video. When the single and video were released on May 31, 2024, more reels of the band producing the album began to be posted on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok with the album title officially being announced. Additionally, in the weeks leading up to the full album release, Mark Foster and Isom Innis invited a select group of fans to listen to the album early in its entirety at venues in Los Angeles and New York City. A double music video for the songs "See You in the Afterlife" and "Feed Me" was released on May 1, 2025 despite the songs not being officially released as singles, though there is speculation that "See You in the Afterlife" was originally meant to be a single due to the track being promoted on a vinyl sticker.

Critical reception

The album received primarily positive reviews from fans and critics, achieving a Metacritic score of 75. In comparison to the mixed reception of ''

Supermodel A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model who has a worldwide reputation and background in ''haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term became popular in the 1990s. Supermodels usually work for prominent fashion designers and clothin ...

'' (2014) and '' Sacred Hearts Club'' (2017), the album has been noted as being both refreshing and reminiscent of their previous music. Lana Williams from ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' gave it an 8/10 and stated "''Paradise State of Mind'' is a refreshing modern offering from the LA-duo, their numbers may have dwindled by half, but their sound is bigger than ever." Matt Collar of All Music.com stated "Foster the People have made an end-of-summer album full of cathartic grooves" with him praising the mix of classic disco, funk and psychedelia on the album. Chad Liffmann of Spinning Platters noted "The album is not without its lyrical meditations on sadness and emotionally dark places, but overall, it’s a joyful blend of varied instrumentation, dance-floor beats, and catchy hooks. It’s all about balance – in life as in music." Some reviews were more mixed with The Cut stating "Undeniably well-crafted as the hooks are, over a whole album they sound hollow and forced."

Track listing

Note * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Foster the People * Mark Foster – lead vocals (all tracks), synthesizer (tracks 1–10); guitar, piano (1–9); bass (1–3, 6–10), drums (2, 4),

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(2), percussion (3, 7) * Isom Innis – synthesizer (tracks 1, 3, 5, 11), engineering (2, 11), drums (3, 7, 10, 11), programming (5, 10), piano (11) * Sean Cimino – guitar (tracks 1, 5, 7, 9, 10), synthesizer (5, 7, 10, 11), programming (5),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(9) Additional musicians * Paul Jacob Cartwright – concert master (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) *

Vanessa Freebairn-Smith Vanessa Freebairn-Smith is a cellist, based in Los Angeles, California. She is a founding member of the Sonus Quartet, formed in 2003, which presents art music in alternative and unusual ways, fusing classical with pop, rock, and hip-hop. Freeba ...

–

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Alyssa Park – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Andrew Duckles – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Ina Veli – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Kerenza Peacock – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Luanne Homzy – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Paul Jacob Cartwright – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Zach Dellinger – violin (tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Riley MacIntyre – programming (tracks 1, 8) * Lily Kershaw – backing vocals (tracks 2, 4, 9) *

Jherek Bischoff Jherek Bischoff (born September 11, 1979) is an American composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumental performer based in Los Angeles. His credits include over seventy albums and compositions for orchestra, opera, film, theater, and ballet ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

(tracks 4, 5, 11) * Jacob Scesney –

Western concert flute The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse flute, transverse (side-blown) flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician w ...

(tracks 5, 9);

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

vocals,

bass saxophone The bass saxophone is the third lowest member of the saxophone family—larger and lower than the more common baritone saxophone. It was likely the first type of saxophone built by Adolphe Sax, as first observed by Berlioz in 1842. It is a trans ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

vocals (9) *

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member of th ...

– synthesizer (tracks 6, 8); backing vocals, drums (6) *

Jack Peñate Jack Peñate (born 2 September 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. Early life Peñate was born in London on 2 September 1984, the son of an English mother and a Spanish father. His maternal grandfather was author M ...

– backing vocals, guitar, programming (track 6) * Nikolaj Torp Larsen – organ, piano, synthesizer (track 6) * Stewart Cole – trumpet (tracks 7, 9); chant vocals, synthesizer (7);

baritone horn The baritone horn, sometimes called baritone, is 3 or 4 valved tenor-voiced brass instrument in the saxhorn family.Robert Donington, "The Instruments of Music", (pp. 113ff ''The Family of Bugles'') 2nd ed., Methuen, London, 1962 It is a pist ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

(9) * Aaron Redfield – drums (track 9) * Jeremy Malvin – bass, programming, synthesizer (track 10) Technical *

Mike Bozzi Mike Bozzi is an American mastering engineer at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, California. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for mastering Childish Gambino's " This Is America", and is a six-time nominee for the Grammy Award fo ...

– mastering *

Rich Costey Richard Costey is an American music producer, mixer, and engineer. He has worked with musicians across genres including rock, indie, pop, hip-hop, and electronica. Notable collaborators include Fiona Apple, Vampire Weekend, Foo Fighters, Sig ...

– mixing * Chaz Sexton – engineering (tracks 1–5, 7–11) * Patrick Ford – engineering (tracks 1–5, 7–11) * Riley MacIntyre – engineering (tracks 1, 4, 6, 8) * Luke Pickering – engineering (tracks 6, 8) * Jherek Bischoff – string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

(tracks 1–5, 8, 11) * Mayumi Heider – engineering assistance (tracks 1–5, 8, 11)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2024 albums Atlantic Records albums Foster the People albums