Foster The People Go Unplugged For “Fire Escape”: Watch

Foster The People may be a trio, but frontman Mark Foster sings alone for an unplugged version of Supermodel track “Fire Escape.” The acoustic lullaby begins at the Los Angeles apartment building where he used to live, then shifts its focus to its view of the city and neighboring Hollywood: pimps and prostitutes, younger folks replacing older ones.

“Los Angeles, I’ve been waiting for you to pick yourself up and change,” Foster sings.

Foster has said that he felt like a younger Hunter S. Thompson when he moved to L.A. at 18, as he quickly dove into “this Hollywood Hills subculture.” According to interviews and other recent singles (“Coming of Age,” “Pseudologia Fantastica”) off Foster The People’s sophomore album Supermodel (out March 18), Los Angeles has since inspired a newer, deeper fascination with what’s considered to be shallow.

“I think we’re the most self-centered culture, maybe in history,” he said to TIME. “With Twitter and Instagram and Facebook everybody has a platform for them to say, ‘Look at me!’ We’re living in a model culture.”

Watch the acoustic performance of “Fire Escape” up top, then weigh in at the comments below.