Robin Foster - Empyrean (2017)

British film composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Robin Foster’s intensely brooding music brings an intangible but undeniable tension, packed with lush cinematic textures, electronic loops and airy synths, all driven by waves of guitars. Hints of Talk Talk, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, New Order and even The Smiths can be detected as Foster’s music floats back and forth between subtlety and intensity. Other influences include his passion for cinema; film directors such as Michael Mann, Ridley Scott and David Lynch, film score composer Ennio Morricone and director/composer John Carpenter among others are a huge inspiration to his "cinematic post-rock". Following his 2008 debut album, ‘Life Is Elsewhere’, and its 2011 follow-up ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ (featuring collaborations with singers Dave Pen of Archive/BirdPen and Ndidi O), Foster wanted his third studio album to pay homage to the remote area of north-western France where he lives. Inspired by the natural beauty and isolation of Brittany’s Crozon peninsula and its beautiful and isolated coastline, ‘PenInsular’ was his "postcard from the edge of the world" and was recorded in Robin’s studio in Camaret and mixed by Jim Spencer in Manchester (New Order, Oasis, The Vaccines). Foster then formed the duo We Are Bodies with Dave Pen and their self-titled debut album was released in early 2015 via Membran/Sony. Another close collaboration, with Oscar nominated British writer/film director Sean Ellis, has led to several soundtracks for film and TV. Foster’s soundtrack for Ellis’ third feature film, ‘Metro Manila’, was nominated for the 2014 World Soundtrack Awards public choice award, while their relationship has continued with ‘Anthropoid’ (starring Jamie Dornan & Cillian Murphy), which was released worldwide in 2016. Foster has also recently scored the original music to the hugely successful French film ‘Good Luck Algeria’ (‘Good Luck Sam’ in the UK), directed by Farid Bentoumi. Foster’s brand new studio album, ‘Empyrean’, follows on from ‘PenInsular’ as a primarily instrumental work, although it does feature the vocal talent of singer Pamela Hute (on the single ‘The Hardest Party’) as well as Ndidi O. Once again mixed by Jim Spencer and mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios, Foster describes ‘Empyrean’ as his “photographic memories of instances in time”. ‘Empyrean’ is preceded by the EP ‘The Hardest Party’. Aside from its title track, it features a cover of ‘Running Up That Hill’ translated into the Breton language by Madelyn Ann (who also sings this version of the Kate Bush classic), the unreleased ‘Vadorlust’, ‘The Hardest Party - Anonymous Bob Remix’ and a cover of The Velvet Underground’s ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ (featuring Christian Geisselmann), which has been part of Foster’s live set.