Mark keeps fostering the people – Entertainment – The Jakarta Post

Mark Foster, the band’s frontman and songwriter, dives once again into his signature philosophical musings about the state of the world. 

In 2011, his “Pumped Up Kicks” started out as a demo piece but became a surprise hit, as the song’s cheerful, carnival-like tune contrasted with Foster’s sharp lyrics about the reality of gun violence among youth: “You better run, better run, outrun my gun.” 

It wasn’t intended to be a social commentary, but Foster closely follows the news. In this latest album, he again invites listeners to walk in his maze of thoughts as he criticizes, laments and weeps, but also cheers the world.

In fact, he does this right from the start, with the first track “See You in the Afterlife”, singing: “The world is spinning madly […] The headlines got us thinking that we’re all gonna die. Then convince us that we have to buy a ticket for the afterlife.” 

Has the world gone mad?

“When I was writing these lyrics, there was a lot of reflection on where we were heading as a society. We were grappling with loss, fear, isolation, and you could feel the tension in the air,” Foster told The Jakarta Post over an e-mail interview.