Alex Henry Foster - 'The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes)' Album Review

2 minutes ago

3 min read

Tracklist:

1. Siren's Call

2. Good Omen

3. A Spoken Whisper

4. New Morning Hope

5. Springtime

6. Calling Out

7. Blue as the Rain

8. Of Dreams and Ghosts

There is something magical about a new Alex Henry Foster album. You know as soon as you press play that it's going to take you somewhere. His first solo release the superb "Windows In The Sky" was rooted in the passing of his father. I often feel that, for men especially, the death of your father triggers an internal journey as you delve deeply into your relationship with them. Alex went to Tangier to try to find sense in his loss, a place that he still often returns to. There is magic there, something that Foster taps into as an artist that fuels and inspires him.

It's no surprise to find that his new album "The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes)" draws so much from the city, it's almost a love letter to it's dizzying cocktail of delights. It's the perfect place for Foster and the Long Shadows to sonically capture and illustrate. Their music is like a painting, the artist layering coloured oils creating something that denies true definition. The music here is a sonic tsunami; it ebbs and swells as it grows as an immersive experience. As a listener you feel like you really soak yourself in it.

It starts with 'Siren's Call' summons us to the album's riad, a traditional Moroccan structure where we can gather. It's ethereal and haunting, the high hats of new drummer Oli Beaudoin acting as the ticking of a clock, marking the slowly slipping of time. Keys and vocals provided by the ever present Miss Isabel create a welcoming ambience as Alex softly songs of loss and regret, moments that have now slipped through his fingers before the song bleeds into 'Good Omens', a chaotic prayer that collapses in on itself. 'A Spoken Whisper' crackles away before it looks to the journey ahead. Guitars wash over us, always on the cusp of feedback.

'New Morning Hope' hangs tantalising in the air, hinting at a coming change. "Springtime, springtime, what have I done to you?" pleads Alex, hinting at the next song, as the music majestically drones over a tumbling African rhythm before Ben Lemelin's keening guitar invites us into 'Springtime' itself. Single 'Calling Out!' builds on a fuzzy hook that bassist Jeff Beaulieu stomps with authority, lending the track a real Jane's Addiction feel. It's the album's most commercial sounding song (and I mean that not in a bad way) and is destined to become a live favourite.

'Blue as the Rain' rumbles along like the offspring of Joy Division but with a sense of wistful longing to people and places the song's narrator has moved on from before 'Of Dreams and Ghosts' closes the album with the soft words "Beloved wake up, break the anchor of the dream-bound deep" gently rousing us from our slumber. It's lengthy coda reminding us that no matter our trials or tribulations we all move on from them. It's a powerful hymn that offers us hope in our tragedy. Foster uses his lyrics as poetry, wrapping around the free form undulating wash of sounds created by the Long Shadows.

"The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes)" follows on from "Windows In The Sky" both thematically and musically, journaling our need for understanding of why we grieve over our losses. This isn't necessarily a wallowing in dour misery, but a celebration of acceptance in the journey and the part that places and people form in our healing. It's also a love letter to Tangier where Alex learned to grieve the loss of his father, but also come to terms with his own morality after dying on an operating table during life saving heart surgery.

It may not be an album for everyone with our fickle attention spans, but if you're willing to immerse yourself and surrender to it's questions, you will find yourself at a table set for a feast of your mind and soul. It's progressive psychadelia is layered in a way that will draw you in and hold your attention leaving you sated from the journey. "The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes)" is possibly the band's best work yet, even set against their previous high standards.