About Kimiyo
Foreseen as a story within a story, Kimiyo bloomed into a multi-layered entity, the album is inspired by the testimonies of the people Foster met in Japan back in 2010. Kimiyo’s main narrative focuses on the journey of a young person who wrote to Foster years after their encounter to share pieces of her journey about how she found a new sense of self after thinking of taking her life upon becoming unwillingly pregnant, but unable to fathom the idea of ending her life or her pregnancy, she became hateful towards the burgeoning existence slowly taking over her body, but found a fulfilling form of hope for her present and future self emerging from feeling the baby starting to move inside of her body. She then envisioned a life of her own, a purpose she had never imagined being able to find anywhere – especially not within herself – but lost the child following a miscarriage, leaving her empty again, but somehow transformed. She had learned that happiness is a measure of the heart and soul, accepting that purpose is something that grows from within, but, as Foster exposed it, while the tree might too often hide the beautiful density of a forest, there are lights that are simply way too bright to be hidden.
The Artists
Alex Henry Foster
Alex Henry Foster (AHF) is a Canadian musician, author, producer, and composer, formerly the frontman for Juno Awards nominee post-rock/noise band Your Favorite Enemies (YFE).
Hailed as an “unforeseen DIY artist” by Rolling Stone Magazine, Alex Henry Foster released his first solo album, “Windows in the Sky”, in Canada in 2018 and globally in 2020. The album is a “dreamy blast of post-rock” (NME) that “brings to my mind artists like Hammock and Asche & Spencer, with heaping helpings of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky” (BrooklynVegan) and has been nominated for “Album of the Year” in Canada in 2019.
His second album, “Standing Under Bright Lights”, released in April 2021, consists of a complete reinterpretation of “Windows in the Sky” by an 11-piece ensemble and was recorded during a sold-out performance at the 40th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. That concert led to a series of live appearances that established Foster and The Long Shadows, his backup band, as a must-see live act, garnering rave reviews and comments and propelling their unique improvisational and unpredictable creative character.
Foster is also known for being a precursor of a new generation of independent artists-entrepreneurs. Co-owner of the label “Hopeful Tragedy Records” along with his bandmate Jeff Beaulieu, he is also the co-founder of the Upper Room Studio, located in a former Catholic church transformed into a multimedia complex.
Hailed as an “unforeseen DIY artist” by Rolling Stone Magazine, Alex Henry Foster released his first solo album, “Windows in the Sky”, in Canada in 2018 and globally in 2020. The album is a “dreamy blast of post-rock” (NME) that “brings to my mind artists like Hammock and Asche & Spencer, with heaping helpings of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky” (BrooklynVegan) and has been nominated for “Album of the Year” in Canada in 2019.
His second album, “Standing Under Bright Lights”, released in April 2021, consists of a complete reinterpretation of “Windows in the Sky” by an 11-piece ensemble and was recorded during a sold-out performance at the 40th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. That concert led to a series of live appearances that established Foster and The Long Shadows, his backup band, as a must-see live act, garnering rave reviews and comments and propelling their unique improvisational and unpredictable creative character.
Foster is also known for being a precursor of a new generation of independent artists-entrepreneurs. Co-owner of the label “Hopeful Tragedy Records” along with his bandmate Jeff Beaulieu, he is also the co-founder of the Upper Room Studio, located in a former Catholic church transformed into a multimedia complex.
Momoka Tobari
Momoka, a Japanese artist from Tokyo, established herself in Montreal, Canada, about a decade ago, leaving Australia where she was residing at the time after being invited by Alex Henry Foster, then leader of the Juno Awards-nominated band Your Favorite Enemies, to take an active role in his different creative projects, from music to literature, short films, and all other forms of visual art.
Being supported and encouraged by Foster, who kept on inviting her to release her artistic endeavors through his personal label imprint Hopeful Tragedy Records, Momoka decided it was time for her to step into her own light after the production of Foster’s multi-disciplinary project Voyage à la Mer, in which she took the center role on the album Kimiyo, singing on the entire record while also being the main figure in the motion picture associated to Foster’s extensive venture.
Momoka’s debut album, Lotus Boreal, is set to be released on Hopeful Tragedy Records in early 2025.
Being supported and encouraged by Foster, who kept on inviting her to release her artistic endeavors through his personal label imprint Hopeful Tragedy Records, Momoka decided it was time for her to step into her own light after the production of Foster’s multi-disciplinary project Voyage à la Mer, in which she took the center role on the album Kimiyo, singing on the entire record while also being the main figure in the motion picture associated to Foster’s extensive venture.
Momoka’s debut album, Lotus Boreal, is set to be released on Hopeful Tragedy Records in early 2025.
Ben Lemelin
Ben Lemelin is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and music producer. Best known as the bass player for Juno Awards-nominated rock band Your Favorite Enemies, he is also the creative collaborator of fellow Canadian Alex Henry Foster, lead guitarist and second drummer for his live band The Long Shadows. Lemelin has been nominated as Canadian Sound Engineer of the Year in 2021 for Foster’s album Standing Under Bright Lights. He runs the Upper Room Studio in the outskirts of Montreal, where he resides.
The Lyrics
The Videos
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The Collection
