Neil Foster After Rain Review

Neil Foster is a United Kingdom-based composer and multi-instrumentalist who composes expansive, cinematic music inspired by dreams, landscapes, horizons, and wild spaces, bringing elements together through intuitive experimentation. Foster’s music is filled with atmospheric textures, polyrhythmic layers, pleasing sounds, and lyrical melodies. His style moves across and between classical music, electronica, experimental soundscapes, and ambient tribal trance. Foster’s first album, Hiraeth, was released in 2018 and followed by Stormlight, released in November 2021.

About the Single

“After Rain” is Foster’s latest single and is a melancholy, atmospheric solo piano piece inspired by the work of the poet Edward Thomas and the final lines found handwritten in his pocket following his death in the Great War: ‘Roads shining like river uphill after rain.’ The piece is composed, performed, and produced by Foster.

Our Favorite Track

“After Rain” is performed with a muted piano sound and is developed on a flowing melody through an eloquent simple harmonic structure for the A section. Foster’s touch on the piano incorporates dynamics and an emotional pushing and pulling of the pulse. The B section is hauntingly beautiful, with exciting call and response in the melody. The final A section has interesting variations and creative dynamics for a dramatic effect.

In Conclusion

Foster has created an embracing composition with “After Rain,” which offers the listener something completely calming and extremely catchy (in a good way). Foster’s composing is imaginative and very engaging, and this one will captivate with its cool colors, mysteries of motion, and Foster’s flowing performance. “After Rain” easily stands as a fine ambient/new age selection that may become your favorite selection of 2022.