ABOUT
Montreal-based experimental rock artist, writer, social worker and human rights advocate Alex Henry Foster will release The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes) on October 23. Foster wrote and recorded most of the album in his beloved adopted community of Tangier, Morocco, where he found healing after a near-fatal illness and the death of his father.
The Fragile Beauty (Of New Morning Hopes), the first of a 5-album series, tells the story of Foster’s complete reinvention following emergency heart surgery where his body died more than once. “Springtime,” from the album, recounts the confusion of being his “new” body, and “Calling Out!” recalls the process of recovery and re-awakening by surrendering to the call both from deeply within and from loved ones around him.
The album draws from African and Arabic traditions, melding the sonic identity of his surroundings in Morocco with the guitar-driven experimental rock sounds of his past.
Foster, who grew up in the tenements of Montreal, formerly led the Canadian post-rock band Your Favorite Enemies. The band built a substantial following in their native country and earned a Juno Award nomination. Since his health crisis and subsequent renaissance both personally and as an artist, Foster has built a thriving arts community in Tangier and holds firm to a belief that music, art and community are inseparable.
An entrepreneur who operates record label Hopeful Tragedy Records, the multimedia complex Upper Room Studio in a former cathedral in Montreal, and Drummond Vinyl, a record pressing plant, Foster’s life work revolves around the healing nature of art and music. His reach extends to lifestyle brands, with Fabrik, a conceptual creative group from which clothing collections and a jewelry brand emerged, as well as La Maison de Tanger, a boutique hotel in Tangier, Morocco. Throughout his career, Foster has advocated for human rights, speaking out about racism, street gang violence, child soldiers, and mental health, collaborating with Amnesty International and War Child among others.