Room in the City

Thomas King wrote that the truth about stories is that they’re all that we are. This is what one should be thinking when they listen to the songs on Ian Foster’s “Room in the City.”

The follow-up to 2006’s “Through the Wires” finds Ian singing songs about dark nights in bright places, long drives and longer conversations, all set amidst musical backdrops peppered with guitars, strings, piano, and a variety of other, less common sounds—marimba, glockenspiel and xylophone, just to name a few. The characters that inhabit the record make their way into and out of cities, taking their stories with them.

But the root of it all is the song. The album even contains a guest appearance from the legendary Newfoundland singer-songwriter Ron Hynes, who lends his voice to the last song on the album, “Decisions.” The song was also a co-write between Hynes and Foster.

Track List:

(1) A Lesson in Geography
(2) No Fool For You
(3) Sodium
(4) If the Weather Holds
(5) Map of a City
(6) Berlin
(7) The Drive Home
(8) After Evelyn
(9) Without a Mark
(10) The Favorite Game
(11) Red Skies
(12) End of the Year
* Decisions

Credits:

Musicians:

Ron Hynes and Melanie O’Brien: backing vocals
Matt Fudge: Drums
Brad Morgan: Bass
Ian Foster: all else

Production:

Recorded by Steve Miller
Produced by Steve Miller and Ian Foster
Mixed by Sonic Temple
Mastered by Joao Carvalho