Sacred Hearts Club

"I Love My Friends" redirects here. For the album by Stephen Duffy, see Stephen Duffy.

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 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" received positive reviews, and peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over two million copies across North America.

Sacred Hearts Club
Studio album by Foster the People
Released	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Recorded	2015 – April 2017
Genre	Indie pop neo-psychedelia indie electronic
Length	41:37
Label	Columbia
Producer	Mark Foster (also exec.) Josh Abraham Austin Mensales Oligee Lars Stalfors Isom Innis John Hill Rob Cohen Frans Mernick
Foster the People chronology
III (2017) Sacred Hearts Club (2017) In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing (2020)
Singles from Sacred Hearts Club
"Doing It for the Money" Released: April 27, 2017 "Loyal Like Sid & Nancy" Released: June 30, 2017 "Sit Next to Me" Released: July 13, 2017

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 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 would "feature '60s-inspired sounds and a psychedelic influence".^[3] 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,^[4] also incorporating elements from the band's jam sessions.^[5] 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.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.8/10^[7]
Metacritic	56/100^[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[9]
The A.V. Club	C−^[10]
Evening Standard	^[11]
The Irish Times	^[12]
The New Zealand Herald	^[13]
Newsday	B+^[14]
Paste	7.4/10^[15]
Pitchfork	5.5/10^[16]
Q	^[17]
Uncut	6/10^[18]

Sacred Hearts Club received mixed to positive reviews from critics, attaining a Metacritic score of 56 based on nine reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[8] 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.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Pay the Man"	Mark Foster Mark Pontius Isom Innis Josh Abraham Oliver Goldstein Justin Mohrle Keinan Abdi Warsame	Foster Innis Abraham Oligee Lars Stalfors^[b]	3:53
2.	"Doing It for the Money"	Foster Innis Adam Schmalholz Ryan Tedder	Foster Innis Abraham Oligee Stalfors^[b]	3:46
3.	"Sit Next to Me"	Foster Abraham Lars Stalfors Johnny Newman Goldstein	Abraham Oligee Stalfors^[b]	4:03
4.	"SHC"	Foster Innis Pontius	Stalfors	4:08
5.	"I Love My Friends"	Foster Innis Abraham Goldstein	Foster Innis Abraham Oligee Stalfors^[b]	3:45
6.	"Orange Dream"	Innis	Innis	1:20
7.	"Static Space Lover"	Foster Innis Jena Malone Patrik Berger	Foster Innis^[a] Berger^[a] Stalfors^[b]	4:00
8.	"Lotus Eater"	Foster Innis	Foster Innis^[a] Abraham^[a] Oligee^[a] Stalfors^[b]	3:02
9.	"Time to Get Closer"	Foster Innis	Foster	0:57
10.	"Loyal Like Sid & Nancy"	Foster Innis	Innis Foster^[a]	4:40
11.	"Harden the Paint"	Foster John Hill KNA Frans Mernick	Foster Hill Mernick^[b]	3:54
12.	"III"	Foster Innis	Innis Foster^[b]	4:09
Total length:				41:37

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer.
• "Orange Dream" contains a sample of "Prelude", as performed by Parliament.^[19][20]

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 (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 – 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")
• Gabe Noel – cello

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[21]	71
Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[22]	54
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[23]	85
French Albums (SNEP)^[24]	180
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)^[25]	10
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[26]	84
UK Album Downloads (OCC)^[27]	95
US Billboard 200^[28]	47
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)^[29]	8

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[30]	Gold	500,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Foster the People announce new album, Sacred Hearts Club, plus North American tour dates". consequence.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. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
4. "Foster The People interview (part 1) – Video Dailymotion". March 12, 2019.
5. "Foster the People approached new album as though 'no one's ever heard our band before'".
6. Foster The People Interview – KROQ Summer Pool Party. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021 – via YouTube.
7. "Sacred Hearts Club by Foster the People reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
8. "Reviews and Tracks for Sacred Hearts Club by Foster the People". Metacritic. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
9. Collar, Matt. "Sacred Hearts Club – Foster the People". AllMusic. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
10. 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.
11. Paine, Andre (July 21, 2017). . Evening Standard. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
12. 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.
13. "Foster the People lose relevance on third album, Sacred Hearts Club". The New Zealand Herald. July 27, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
14. Gamboa, Glenn (July 20, 2017). "'Sacred Hearts Club' review: Foster the People mixes catchy music, complicated ideas". Newsday. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
15. Sharples, Grant (July 26, 2017). "Foster The People: Sacred Hearts Club Review". Paste. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
16. Shoup, Brad (July 24, 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
17. Everley, Dave (August 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Q (375): 103.
18. O'Connell, Sharon (September 2017). "Foster the People: Sacred Hearts Club". Uncut (244): 28.
19. "Orange Dream by Foster the People on WhoSampled". WhoSampled.
20. "Foster the People – Orange Dream Lyrics | Genius Lyrics".
21. . auspOp. July 29, 2017. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
22. "Foster the People Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
24. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP (Week 30, 2017)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
25. "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
26. "Spanishcharts.com – Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
27. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
28. "Foster the People Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
29. "Foster the People Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
30. "American album certifications – Foster the People – Sacred Hearts Club". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 1, 2023.