PAN M 360: Alex Henry Foster Talks About Overcoming Death and his new album, Kimiyo

As published in PAN M 360

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Alex Henry Foster, the orchestral post-rock provocateur, came back from the dead, literally, after a close call with his heart left him unable to talk, sing, or strum a guitar. During his recovery, he dove into his archives from multiple trips to Japan and found he had the basis for a film. Using his poetry, journals, and interviews from Japan, he also began writing music and sought the aid of producer, Ben Lemelin, his musical partner for a number of years, and vocalist Momoka Tobari. Together they created Kimiyo, a gorgeous, orchestral post-rock odyssey that is light and heavy simultaneously.

Foster was unable to speak in the studio and had to use hand signals and pure emotion to conduct the musical passages while Momoka adapted and sang her passages in Japanese, completely reacting to the music in real time. In Foster’s words, Momoka channeled several different perspectives while singing her parts in Kimiyo. We spoke to Foster about Kimiyo, his artistic revelations, and some of the sounds found on the album.