Album Review: The Faim - 'State Of Mind'
The Faim — four friends and small town heroes from Perth — have sated their legions of ravenous fans with their debut album, State of Mind; an ambitious, diverse and ultimately powerful affair that is sure to leave you hungry for more.
The Faim have gone from strength to strength since releasing their incredible debut single, Saints Of The Sinners, co-written by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy fame. With a string of festival appearances — most recently a thunderous set at Reading and Leeds festival on the BBC Radio One stage — and a who’s who of supporting slots (with the likes of Sleeping With Sirens, Against The Current, PVRIS and Lower Than Atlantis, to name a few) this album was less a possibility and more a necessity. Featuring previous hit single ‘Summer Is A Curse’, as well as the more recent singles ‘Humans’, ‘Beautiful Drama’ and ‘Humans’, the ten-song strong album — or at least the version of the album that most people will have access to, with the band offering official store-exclusive single Ecstasy, as well as Deluxe album songs Broken Places and Invisible Hearts — is nothing short of incredible.
It’s possibly imperatively pertinent to start by saying that the album is not perfect — it’s not cohesive by any stretch of the imagination, whether by base material or even just by theme, flitting between hard rock, easy-listening pop, and a weird amalgamation of the two, with both some rap and some ballads thrown in for good-measure; saying that, though, the album offers some genuinely brilliant tracks and overall represents an incredibly talented for-piece destined for greatness.
It seems relevant to start with the singles of the album: ‘Amelie’, ‘Humans’, ‘Beautiful Drama’ and the hit track ‘Summer is a Curse’. Let’s start with ‘Summer is a Curse’. Co-written by Ashton Irwin, most notably known as the drummer for 5 Seconds of Summer, it’s incredibly poppy as a track: with its anthemic chorus, it’s hard to forget; let alone it’s musically addictive accompaniment. It’s been a hit single for over a year now for the band, so it would have been a shame not to have featured it.
This, of course, leaders perfectly to the true lead single of the album, Amelie.
Amelie, to me, is the perfect representation of The Faim. It pairs the brilliantly executed musical talents of Sam Tye, Stephen Beerkens, and Linden Marissen with the gritty yet emotive locals of front man Josh Raven. It starts endearingly poppy, transitions through emotive and near heart-wrenching, to bass-dropping and pulse electrifying within the last minute. A truly brilliant track.
Humans, of course, is hard to disregard. Admittedly, I didn’t seen it as a stand out single, let alone a stand out track of the album. That aside, though, it’s almost addictively anthemic. Starting with some endearingly whistled opening chords, it’s somehow both ridiculously poppy as well as neck-wrenchingly headbang-y, which seems to sum up The Faim perfectly.
The band are incredibly talented, not to even attempt to put a dent in the extent of both their live presence and their studio recordings; saying that, though, the band relies on the gritty yet emotive vocals of lead Josh Raven. An incredible talent, he stops the band from residing simply in the forgettable pop category, like many contemporaries who produce the same semi-forgettable tracks. Instead, Josh Raven ensures that every track become ingrained, almost etched into the very fabric of your mind.
The highlights, though, come in the form of heart-wrenching, tear-jerking ‘Where the River Runs’, and the title track ‘State of Mind’. As good as fan favourite Infamous is — and as well-appreciated the studio version is, given it’s existence as a live track for gone two years low— these two are something else.
Where The River Runs exists as Josh’s vocals over a deceptively simple piano melody; perhaps not much on paper but something else entirely both live and on record. It’s incredibly emotive, scarily powerful and truly genuine; an incredible track that reflects the maturity of a band comfortable with releasing such a personal track.
On the other side comes ‘State of Mind’. It starts as an incredibly well produced pop song; slightly grittier vocals, perhaps, but t still semi- clichéd lyrics.
Then it hits the last minute or so.
First comes a piano- ballad of a bridge, with some hauntingly echoed vocals and some piercing guitar chords.
Then, the same chorus as before, at perhaps twice the tempo, with Josh’s vocals getting progressively angrier and emotive before an eruption of musical talent that extends past that final song and into their whole presence.
An incredible offering rising up from down under.
Coming just before a co-headline US tour with Stand Atlantic, and yet another packed EU tour in November (culminating in a night at Camden’s Electric Ballroom), the album seems to scream promises of big things for the Australian band.
Words by James O’Sullivan
