The Faim recently released their new album State of Mind on September 13, 2019. It contains ten songs and the tracklist is as follows:
- Tongue Tied
- Humans
- Summer Is a Curse
- Beautiful Drama
- Buying Time
- Infamous
- Amelie
- Words Apart
- Where the River Runs
- State of Mind
The Faim is comprised of Josh Raven (vocals), Sam Tye (guitar), Stephen Beerkens (bass/keyboard), and Linden Marrisen (drums). Personally, if I had to describe their sound, I would probably describe it as alternative pop or indie. Their debut EP, Summer Is a Curse, is what started them off strong, and a few songs off of that EP made it onto their first debut album, State of Mind.
The album is a natural progression from the original EP, even if it does have previous tracks like “Summer Is a Curse” and “Amelie” also featured on it. This record delivers the classic and original sound that they became popular for, but the rest of the songs on the album breathe new life into their existing style. On a personal level, a lot of the album hype died down once I heard a majority of the songs live or listened to different versions on YouTube.
Admittedly, the most anticipated track that I was looking forward to was the studio version of “Beautiful Drama,” and it remains a stand-out track. It exceeded my expectations with sound quality, because I often can’t think of a song that I loved seeing performed live being able to live up to that in a studio version. This is the song that manages to give a different feeling and meaning studio versus live, and it makes me love it more.
Another song that comes to mind when I think of this album is “Tongue Tied,” and it was a great decision to put it as the first track on the album. It is a hard-hitting track with an obvious rock influence, and it makes me want to see it live and yell every word. I think this song could have definitely been a single.
“Humans” was probably the most catchy on the album, which is likely why it made it a single. Most singles from other bands or artists don’t seem to have an abundance of meaning to me, however “Humans” is anything but meaningless. I feel so much emotion in this song and it takes me back to a lot of times when I had to pick myself up, which is essential in life. It is very comforting to listen to, and although “Tongue Tied” would have made an amazing single choice, “Humans” represents The Faim and their energy in the most genuine way.
I wish that “Amelie” or “Summer Is a Curse” had been reduced to only one of those songs making it to State of Mind, and since “Amelie” was not on their first EP, I think it deserves the spot here. I do think both of those songs being repeated on this album serves a purpose of experimenting with an existing song, but I also think re-recording them would have been an interesting move as well.
Altogether, the debut album is amazing and I can’t stop listening to it. If this album makes it out into the mainstream, I think it could be extremely successful, especially if people heard the impressive vocals. Josh is incredibly talented and the instrumentals are so unique compared to what artists currently release in this age.
You can stream State of Mind on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Google Play. Check out the video for “Humans” on Youtube.
