Originally premiered on his Billboard #4 charting live album Standing Under Bright Lights, The Son of Hannah takes on a transformative new form on this latest opus. As 3 Songs & Out noted in their 4.5 star review:
“This is one of the many positives from the Long Shadows as songs constantly change and grow from performance to performance. Each version becomes essential to the moment it exists in, something that’s been well documented with Foster’s live releases.”
When asked why he was returning to The Son of Hannah now, Foster responded: “… there’s a very intimate connection to its nature and the undertone that led me to write the song “I’m Afraid”. I don’t think I would have been able to explore, much less publicly display what resides within me, if it wasn’t for what The Son Of Hannah has evolved into.”
The album displays Foster and his Shadows’ rich, multi-layered wall of sounds with all the passion and mastery they’re now well-known for, defined by a vivid dramatic honesty that comes with the singer’s comeback into the lights after surviving an emergency heart surgery necessitating a double graft two years ago.
Foreseeing the album release, he adds: “I’m so grateful for every little thing and different tiny element that led me to where I am now… Yes, there’s always a profound measure of suffering and a deep concentration of sadness at times — more than I can bear or comprehend — but I’m nonetheless reverent for every aspect of my journey.
And I guess that’s why the song “The Son Of Hannah” is a perfect representation of that personal evolution. Its initial incarnation was a reflection of my failure as a son while exposing the loss of my faith in joy and rebirth. I was on the bleak side of the mirror, looking at my father’s life as a whole, from drifting despair to high cheer. I had no cheer within me, and I thought I was all despair.”
A Nightfall Ritual promises a devotionally intense and sonically rich universe for Alex Henry Foster’s long-awaited upcoming album, due this fall.
The new single The Son of Hannah is out this Wednesday, April 16, via Hopeful Tragedy Records.
1. Up Til Dawn – Live in Köln (11:54)
2. I’m Afraid – Live in Köln (10:13)
3. The Son of Hannah – Live in Köln (9:20)
4. The Pain That Bonds – Live in Köln (16:41)