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May 20, 2020 Alex Henry Foster By Haydon Spenceley

This record is beautiful. Formerly a band member of Your Favorite Enemies, Canadian musician Alex Henry Foster recorded this startling debut solo LP after the death of his father. As a meditation on love and loss, it’s an unusual album for the contemporary musical scene.

Windows in the Sky is a potent mix of spoken word and sung vocals, which takes many listens for the pain of Foster’s loss and his lack of solace to truly take root. What makes the album so special though is that the lyrics are presented through instrumentation that manages to be simultaneously beautiful and furious. Take “Winter is Coming In” as an example. Lilting passages call Mew to mind, whilst the chorus and denouement of the song are more in the vein of Mogwai at their most apocalyptic.

Each song here unfolds gradually, drawing the listener in before the crashing crescendos deliver gorgeous payoffs. Current single for the album, “The Hunter (By the Seaside Window),” alternately drifts and pummels its way through its 14 minutes and 34 seconds playtime. And you’ll savor each and every moment, and that’s a cast iron guarantee. Take a day of quarantine to relish what I consider to be the greatest alternative rock soundtrack to love and loss produced in recent memory. (www.alexhenryfoster.com)

Author rating: 8/10