"Helena Beat" is a song by American indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 group Foster the People

Foster the People

Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The group is composed of Mark Foster , Mark Pontius , and Cubbie Fink...

, and the second single from the band's debut studio album, Torches

Torches (album)

-Reception:Torches has received generally favorable reviews, according to Metacritic who gave it an aggregate score of 70. It debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold 33,000 copies in the first week...

. It was released as a free preview of the album on iTunes in the United States on May 24, 2011, and promotionally to radio airplay in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011. On August 10, 2011, BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 DJ Greg James

Greg James (DJ)

Greg James is a British radio DJ at BBC Radio 1.Having previously had experience at BBC Radio Norfolk and Galaxy North East, James started presenting the Early Breakfast show in October 2007, replacing the previous incumbents of the slot, JK and Joel...

 selected the song as his Record of the Week.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Helena Beat" was first released onto YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 on July 18, 2011. The video debuted on the MuchMusic Countdown in Canada on Thursday, August 11 at #30, and peaked at #18.. It was directed by Ace Norton

Ace Norton

Ace Norton is a music video and commercial director.-Biography:Norton grew up in Venice, and is the son of writer/director Bill Norton Junior and grandson of motion picture screenwriter William Norton Senior.Norton spent most of high school shooting short films...

. Due to its violent and disturbing content, the video did not gain much airplay.

The video begins with singer Mark Foster fleeing from a destroyed city in a dystopian future along with his dog. On the road out of the city, he finds a baby carriage and goes to investigate. When he gets out of the van, a gang of violent, rebellious children attacks him and takes him hostage while his dog flees. The other members of the band are taken hostage as well. They are then taken to the children's headquarters, where they are tortured, beaten, and abused. Foster is then turned into a child by a strange machine attached to an old man, who is also a captive of the children. After being turned into a child, he is now accepted as one of them.

Track listing

Chart performance

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... )	64
Canada (Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... )	100
Canada (Canadian Alternative Chart Canadian rock/alternative chart The Canadian rock/alternative chart was first published on June 11, 1995 by RPM magazine under the name Alternative 30. The song which held the number-one spot on this first chart was "More Human than Human" by White Zombie... )	1
US Alternative Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	9
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...  (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	21
US Rock Songs Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...  (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... )	15