When Mark Foster met his now-wife two years ago, he set out to capture love’s essence in all its forms and express it in his next great musical project. Read on to find out why we believe he succeeded.
In The Darkest Of Nights, Let The Birds Sing is eclectic and raw, in the best way. It’s fun, moving and dynamic, like any great love affair. Foster also expertly evokes a sense of future nostalgia, both sonically and emotionally. It gives that feel every musician is trying to achieve these days — familiar but still innovative and fresh — while the lyrics give you a sense of nostalgia for future memories.
Fans in online forums have had mixed feelings about this EP, and we suspect this is due to the changes the band has undergone, in part due to abandoning labels and becoming a true indie act. In fact, each band member recorded their piece of the project by themselves, during quarantine, from different corners of the US. Regardless, we here at Soundigest are fans of Foster The People transforming themselves into a more indie-pop group while still seeming authentic to their signature style.
As for each track, there are some that really shine the brightest for us, and some that are good but maybe not as stellar. Not to give too much away, but we don’t really consider any of these tracks to be misses.
The EP opens with “Walk With A Big Stick,” which is already a favorite among fans. Whimsical and cheeky, as well as dance-able and groovy, this vintage-as-vinyl track takes a classic Foster The People vibe and blends it seamlessly with some 1950s “Blue Moon” feels. “Cadillac,” on the other hand, is more of a head-bobbing bop. Keeping that nostalgic feel from “Walk With A Big Stick,” this bass-driven track makes us wanna dance from our hips and let our hair down.
It’s really “Lamb’s Wool” that takes the cake for us, though. It’s a complete switch-up sonically but keeps the nostalgic theme going in other ways. This song was originally written by Mark Foster about the passing of his uncle, and another band member then related it back to their aunt. It’s an extremely moving and bittersweet track, an homage to the type of love that’s been long-neglected in music — the love we have for our family.
The next track switches back to the EP’s original groove, and even gets a little funkier. With nods to the sounds of bands like Empire of the Sun, Daft Punk and even David Bowie, “Things We Do” is by far the most interesting from a musician’s standpoint. This is a fun one — we can see why they released it as a single!
The penultimate track “Under the Moon” is really beautiful, too (big surprise there). It’s incredibly poignant and cinematic, with Foster crooning over it all, yearning and longing for his love. Finally, they get even cheesier with their last track (but a good cheesy, like Tillamook rather than Velveeta — IYKYK). It’s the perfect ending to the sweetest, sappiest EP of the year.
Featured Image: Foster The People
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