Alex Henry Foster, once the electrifying leader of the Juno-nominated band Your Favorite Enemies, has taken a deep dive into uncharted waters with his latest creation, Voyage à la Mer. With this artistic endevour, Foster plunges into the tumultuous sea of human emotions, inspired by a soul-stirring journey to Japan in 2010. The project is as much a poetic diary as it is an exploration of our primal bond with water—encompassing the dawn of existence, sacred voyages, moments of transformation, and the eternal cycle of life and death.
The genesis of Voyage à la Mer traces back to a poignant encounter in Japan with the grieving parents of a young fan. The tragedy, woven through letters exchanged with the fan, set Foster on a path of introspection and healing, especially as he grappled with his own mortality during a critical heart surgery. Stripped of his voice and facing an uncertain future, Foster’s journey mirrors the ebb and flow of existence itself, marking “Voyage à la Mer” as a deeply personal attestation to the resilience of the human spirit.
“I was in no other position than to either feel sorry for myself or have a prolonged look with myself to figure out who I was beyond the distressing sensation of losing my identity,” muses Foster. “The introspective clarity brought me right back to Japan, in what had been for me a transformative experience almost fifteen years ago, highlighted by the long-forgotten fragments of film, photographs, and people’s testimonies I had the privilege of witnessing.”
As Foster began to find his strength again, he reached out to his old pal and creative cohort, Ben Lemelin, for a helping hand in the creative process. With his voice still on the mend, the pair decided to bring in a fresh talent to breathe life into their nascent project. Enter Momoka Tobari, whose voice would become the soul of their inaugural venture, christened Kimiyo. It was a move that not only marked Foster’s resilient return to the artistic arena, but also showcased the power of collaboration and new beginnings in the face of adversity.
Today, Alex Henry Foster shares the first single A Silent Stream, off of the upcoming LP Kimiyo, due April 26. A Silent Stream is a contemplative journey within ourselves, designed for us to discover the purpose of days passing by, beyond the illusion of control over “time” and the meanings we’d like to believe in.
The lyrics, spoken in Japanese, weave a poignant narrative of searching for meaning amidst life’s chaos. They explore themes of isolation, the quest for understanding, and the longing for connection. Reflecting on the ephemeral nature of comfort and the struggle with personal and collective identity, the words paint a landscape of introspection and yearning.
Watch and listen below”
“I have always been looking for a pretext or an excuse to work with Momoka,” says Foster about the upcoming LP. “She’s got a very unique spirit, and she’s a very inspiring and insightful person.We have a common view about life in general and spirituality in particular, but most of all, she is a fantastic artist for whom I have the utmost admiration. When it became obvious to me that I would be in no way capable of singing or speaking on the songs we had sketched, Momoka was in my opinion the only person able to transcend the project’s spirit. The poetry of Voyage à la Mer was to be the core holding the whole project together, but I wanted Momoka to make her own interpretation of the lyrical undercurrent and to express herself in her native tongue, so she wouldn’t have to be my voice or try to emulate what my words might convey. We set the canvas, laid down the color palettes, but it was for her to express herself and be the painting.”
Alex Henry Foster has crafted four different creative entities; the albums Kimiyo and A Measure of Space and Sounds, the film Voyage à la Mer, and the in-public conversations & live musical improvisation affair Of Flashes and Other Currents, all due to be released over the span of 2024. He spoke with Post-Punk.com about the project, his insights, and the meaning behind the poetic video.
1. How did this project come to fruition, and what was the experience like working with Momoka? Can you speak about the songwriting process with her?
The project came together very organically. Although she had often collaborated on several of my songs in the past, I had been entertaining the idea of crafting an entire album with Momoka for quite a while already. However, my schedule wasn’t allowing much flexibility to dwell on the specific type of creative endeavor I was envisioning for us to work on. So when I realized and accepted that I would be “grounded”, for what seemed an extensive period following my heart surgery, this highly frustrating kind of situation I was dealing with became a blessing in disguise. Not only would I finally be able to work with Momoka, but it would also become such a positive experience that it undeniably contributed to my physical recovery and prevented me from falling into depression. The genuine singularity of those songs came out of Momoka’s openness to go beyond her cultural discomfort, as most of the themes we explored had a significant measure of spiritual intimacy and personal questioning. But her willingness to press on allowed her to become the journey itself. Therefore, the songwriting was more in the likes of a conversational flow than what we had both experienced in the past. And since the album is primarily centered on its lyrical content, her embodiment of its nature made the record an authentic and heartfelt voyage, as much as an honest and fulfilling one.
2. You mention the death and afterlife cycle as inspiration for your songwriting, is there a specific moment outside of your life-threatening surgery that caused such contemplation?
I think it all goes back to my late father’s obsession with everything unknown, and his longing to find meaning and purpose in his life. There were enough esoteric books scattered around the house to be considered a legitimate spiritual bookstore, and there were countless conversations about the subject at home. If the quest to find the absolute was a lifelong journey for him, it became a sort of introspective musing for me—one that has more to do with personal emancipation and inner freedom than trying to understand dogmas and doctrines. The only truth there is in spirituality is the rejection of such a concept in the first place. So it isn’t really tied to a specific moment, but rather a growing fascination with the possibility of consciousness emancipation, if that makes sense 😉
3. Your video features the ocean and you often mention your connection to bodies of water, where did this come from? Do you feel your most inspired lyrics arise near a body of water?
I always felt connected to that sort of pure and free type of energy. It’s chaos and structure in their most vibrant forms of balance. I have always been attracted to such an unpredictable kind of power. It’s a reflection of “God” to me in a way; both benevolent and implacable, blessing and plague. There are rituals involving “water” in every culture and belief… it’s timeless.
I almost drowned as a kid, urged to take off on a tiny floating boat to get in the middle of a massive lake while my parents were briefly distracted. I instinctively jumped into the water to feel what it was like to be weightless, to lose control. My father reached out to me just in time, as I was simply letting go in the water. I wouldn’t say it’s quite normal behavior for a 5 or 6-year-old child to do that. I’m no expert, but I figure it ain’t. My father started to hide his books about the nature of eternity right after that. Coincidence? Maybe not 😉
4. What are your biggest musical inspirations right now?
Always a difficult question for me to answer in general, but considering that I’m already back in the studio right now, I would say my inspirations include Glenn Branca, Tindersticks, Akira Kosemura, Leonard Cohen, and Sonic Youth.
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