Foster the People lose relevance on third album, Sacred Hearts Club

Foster the People, 'Sacred Hearts Club'. Photo / supplied

Foster the People's playfully dark hit Pumped Up Kicks won over the world when the band was in its infancy. A viral single so early into a career is a hard act to follow and, six years on, Foster the People still haven't quite worked out how to do that.

Sacred Hearts Club, their third album, has a number of great moments and strong ideas - but there's a lack of synergy between the different elements that ultimately leaves the record feeling tired and monotonous.

Sacred Hearts Club sheds most of what used to make Foster the People seem fresh, instead falling into the weary, uninspiring trap of using EDM and hip-hop influences as many a pop-rock band has chosen to do before them (Fall Out Boy, Coldplay).

Foster the People always knew how to write good pop, but their decision to follow this road on Sacred Hearts leaves their songs waterlogged by heavy, often abrasive production - despite the fact that the album was mastered three times in an effort to stay concise.

Tracks like the bouncy anthem Doing It for the Money and the breathless SHC have a catchy potential - but the former is hindered by an attempted RnB beat and vocal delivery that squanders its dynamic range, while the latter's measured rhythm is thrown off when it swerves into a distracting, synth-saturated bridge.

Lyrically, there are hints of the liveliness that made Pumped Up Kicks work so well, such as on I Love My Friends - but elsewhere the lyrics flatline, and often uncomfortably misfire ("Got my hands up in the air, I'm saying I can't breathe," is a poorly-handled reference to the killing of Eric Garner in Loyal Like Sid & Nancy ).

There's enough that works throughout the record to keep fans happy, but overall Sacred Hearts Club lacks the inspiration and freshness that brought Foster the People to the world's attention, and leaves them out of step with where music has arrived in 2017.

Foster the People, Sacred Hearts Club

Artist: Foster the People
Album: Sacred Hearts Club
Label: Columbia Records
Verdict: Despite hints of fresh ideas, Foster the People fall into an uninspiring, synth-laden trap.