The non-album single "I Would Do Anything for You" was featured onThe Weather Channel'sLocal on the 8s segments during the early 2010s before all commercial music was phased-out in favor of their own, in-house compositions.[citation needed]
Not long after the band formed, frontmanMark Foster wrote and recorded the song "Pumped Up Kicks" while working as ajingle writer at Mophonics. The song proved to be the band's breakthrough in 2010,going viral,[12] earning the band a booking at theSouth by Southwest music festival in March 2010,[13][14] and garnering attention from music industry professionals. Brent Kredel and Brett Williams were hired to co-manage the group and helped them obtain a record deal withColumbia Records imprintStartime International in May 2010.[15]
After the record deal was finalized, Kredel said, "The focus was to stop everything and not work on any marketing or touring, but to make an album that backed up 'Pumped Up Kicks.'" To avoid the band becoming overexposed, Startime allowed the group to pace themselves and not rush an album that would cash in on the popularity of the song. Isaac Green of Startime said, "You can't control everything, but you can be meticulous about the music." From July to September 2010, the group wrote new material that would appear onTorches, and they chosePaul Epworth,Rich Costey,Tony Hoffer andGreg Kurstin to co-produce the record with Mark Foster.[15]
The cover artwork was designed byYoung & Sick (formerly known as Japayork), a friend of Mark Foster's who was interested in doing illustrations for an album.[16][17] The group's drummer Mark Pontius explained the origins of the artwork:[18]
We argued about that artwork forever. I think I was the only one who didn't like it. I love his artwork but I had a different image in my mind for the record cover. But I ended up being happy that I lost the fight because it ended up that the characters on the front became this whole world that we ended up including in our live show and on our merch and our website.
"Call It What You Want" was also used in the soundtrack of the football video game byEA Sports,FIFA 12. "Houdini" appears in the soundtrack toSSX. The song "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" is prominently featured in two Nissan commercials titled "Headroom" and "Legroom."[19][20] The song was also used in the soundtrack of the racing gameForza Horizon. The music video for "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" was featured instereoscopic 3D on theNintendo 3DS's applicationNintendo Video. Foster the People appeared as the musical guest on the October 8, 2011, episode ofSaturday Night Live, playing "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini".Kenny G appeared as a guest performer on the latter song.[21][22]
Through theiTunes Store, the album is available with the bonus track "Broken Jaw" (which was released as aRecord Store Day single limited to 1,000 copies).Best Buy features a CD with the bonus tracks "Love" and "Chin Music for the Unsuspecting Hero". Certain independent record stores included free remix EPs with the purchase of CD or vinyl.[23] In August 2021,Torches X (Deluxe Edition) was announced to mark the album's tenth anniversary. Released on November 12, 2021, it features a cover of "Pumped Up Kicks" byGus Dapperton.[24]
Torches received generally favorable reviews. According to review aggregator websiteMetacritic, it received an average critic score of 69 out of 100, based on 20 reviews.[26]AllMusic described the album as a "catchy, electro-lite dance-pop that fits nicely next to such contemporaries asMGMT andPhoenix."[27]Rolling Stone said, "their debut is genre-juggling, bedroom-dance-floor magic cut with moody-boy lyrics".[35]U2 guitaristThe Edge singledTorches out as one of his favorite records, calling it "a very interesting new album. Very 21st century pop, but it's beautifully made and thrilling. You see, we're always interested in the new thing..."[37]Elton John also said thatTorches was one of his favorites and one of the best albums of 2011.[38]Blue Öyster Cult guitaristBuck Dharma stated onThat Metal Show thatTorches was one of his favorite new albums.[citation needed]
Torches debuted at number eight on the USBillboard 200 chart, selling 33,000 copies in the first week. On April 28, 2014, the album was certifiedplatinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of a million copies in the United States.[40]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
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