Torches is the debut studio album by American indietronica band Foster the People, released on May 23, 2011, by Startime International and Columbia Records.

[11] The non-album single "I Would Do Anything for You" was featured on The Weather Channel's Local 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, frontman Mark Foster wrote and recorded the song "Pumped Up Kicks" while working as a jingle writer at Mophonics.

[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.'"

From July to September 2010, the group wrote new material that would appear on Torches, and they chose Paul Epworth, Rich Costey, Tony Hoffer and Greg Kurstin to co-produce the record with Mark Foster.

[15] The cover artwork was designed by Young & Sick (formerly known as Japayork), a friend of Mark Foster's who was interested in doing illustrations for an album.

Foster the People appeared as the musical guest on the October 8, 2011, episode of Saturday Night Live, playing "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini".

[38] Blue Öyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma stated on That Metal Show that Torches was one of his favorite new albums.

On April 28, 2014, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of a million copies in the United States.