Mark Derek Foster is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Foster the People. After struggling to create a successful band in his early twenties, Foster finally had his big break as the founder and frontman of Foster the People in 2009, which he formed alongside his two friends Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink. The band has since released three studio albums: Torches in 2011, Supermodel in 2014, and Sacred Hearts Club in 2017.

Torches is the debut studio album by American indietronica band Foster the People, released on May 23, 2011, by Startime International and Columbia Records. In 2010, the group parlayed the popularity of frontman Mark Foster's song "Pumped Up Kicks" into a record deal with Startime International, and wrote the album to back the song's popularity. "Pumped Up Kicks" proved to be a sleeper hit; after receiving significant airplay on modern rock stations, the song crossed-over onto contemporary hit radio and became one of 2011's most popular songs. Four additional singles were released from the album: "Helena Beat", "Call It What You Want", "Don't Stop ", and "Houdini", which had previously been released as a promotional single in the United Kingdom prior to the album's release.