The Faim Debut Experimental, Cross-Genre 'State of Mind' Ahead of Tour

The Australian pop-rock up and comers The Faim have been making waves in the music industry with their cross-genre music and are continuing on this trajectory even as 2019 begins to wind down. Preceding their quickly approaching The Noise and One's To Watch co-headlining tour with Stand Atlantic, WSTR, Hold Close and Point North kicking off Sept. 17, the quartet just released their heavily anticipated first-ever full-length album, State of Mind.

The Faim believes an album should not just showcase current abilities, but also serve as a declaration for future aspirations and goals. With this in mind, State of Mind was approached with the desire to push the band out of their comfort zone, explore new styles and tones, and expand their overall sound. According to bassist and keyboard player Stephen Beerkens,

"We wanted to show the variety of skills between the four of us, but we also want to write and record the music we want to hear. We asked ourselves, 'What is missing? What do we want to be hearing?' And then we decided, 'Why don't we just write that?'"

Lead vocalist Josh Raven added:

"We wanted to stick true to our roots and where we came from, which is essentially just us being able to explore the passion and love we have for music. But we also wanted to experiment and have fun with the songs."

State of Mind is the product of nearly four years of songs from tracks such as "Summer Is a Curse" off the band's breakout EP, "Humans" (the first single from the album), and, of course, never before released tracks. "Tongue Tied," produced by Drew Fulk, is a high energy, heavily bass and percussion-driven track which pushed the band out of their comfort zone, yet successfully sets an intense tone for the rest of the album. "Where the River Runs" is a true testament to the band's versatility and dedication to experimenting with their sound. A prominently somber track, the raw rhapsodic expression is an exquisite combination of heartbreak and healing. For the final track on the album, the band hoped to create something with the sole purpose of testing new waters. Stephen commented,

"We wanted to shake up our mindset and our way of doing things. For 'State of Mind,' I picked a chord I never play and that's how the song starts. That song was originally five or six minutes long and it comes from the idea of doing something we've never done before. We wanted to go to a place we'd never gone to. Sometimes you have to do the complete opposite of what you think you should do to make sure that's very much yourself. It came together really well."

Make sure to check out State of Mind here.