Early years In 1996, when she was 17, Foon moved to Montreal from Vancouver, and soon became involved in the city's DIY music scene.
A Silver Mt. Zion in 2007 Soon after moving to Montreal, Foon began playing cello and composing with
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, a band that formed in Montreal in 1999. Foon joined in 2000, when the band expanded from a trio into a sextet. Foon plays on the band's second album,
Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward, released in 2001 on
Constellation Records. The minimalist album was well received by music critics, including
Allmusic La Lechuza is thus dedicated to Lhasa de Sela. The band collaborated with
Patrick Watson on the album and released a song entitled "Snow Day for Lhasa", as well as created a site – – dedicated to Lhasa.
Patrick Watson also contributed vocals on two songs and produced the album, with other guests contributing, including violinist
Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire) and saxophonist
Colin Stetson. After Barr and Page became occupied with their other projects, Esmerine added two new members to their touring lineup: percussionist Jamie Thomson and multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson. After a number of live performances, the quartet began writing new material in early 2012. The album was dedicated to Foon’s mother who had passed away of cancer while the band was recording the album.
Other albums In 2004, Foon teamed up with
Spencer Krug (
Wolf Parade,
Sunset Rubdown, and Moonface) and Rachel Levine (Cakelk) to form the string/piano/accordion-based trio
Fifths of Seven, releasing its first album,
Spry from Bitter Anise Folds, in 2005. 2005 saw Foon contribute cello to a number of other albums as well. Among these were
From Cells of Roughest Air by The Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary, with
Sophie Trudeau (
Godspeed You! Black Emperor,
A Silver Mt. Zion) and
Genevieve Heistek (
HangedUp).
Collaborations, guest appearances, and soundtracks She has had guest appearances on albums such as
Just Another Ordinary Day by
Patrick Watson in 2003;
Do You Like Rock Music? by
British Sea Power in 2011;
North Star Deserter by
Vic Chesnutt and
Return to the Sea by
Islands in 2007; and
Hot Wax by
Grant Hart in 2009. In 2011, she was involved with the film and music project
National Parks Project by
Last Gang Records. Foon has performed and recorded with musicians such as
Tanya Tagaq,
Patti Smith, Jesse Paris Smith,
Flea,
Warren Ellis,
Tenzin Choegyal,
Colin Stetson,
Patrick Watson,
Laurie Anderson,
Lhasa De Sela, and
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and has composed for film soundtracks, including
Shannon Walsh's feature-length documentary
H2Oil, with
Ian Ilavsky, co-founder of
Constellation Records. The film is a documentary on the extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta. Foon has also composed several soundtracks for the
National Film Board of Canada and many museums and has been a touring member of
Sam Green and Brent Green's Live Cinema, along with
Brendan Canty, James Canty, and Kate Ryan.
Saltland I Thought It Was Us But It Was All of Us (2013) In 2010, she began working on solo material, enlisting the help of
Jamie Thompson (
The Unicorns) on percussion and programming. Handling vocals and cello, among the sounds on which Foon focused were
drone,
no wave, improv,
dream pop, and minimalism; eventually, the project Saltland was formed. This work culminated in the release of
I Thought It Was Us But It Was All of Us on
Constellation Records in 2013. Among the guest musicians on the album were
Sarah Neufeld,
Colin Stetson, Laurel Sprengelmeyer of
Little Scream, and
Richard Reed Parry of
Arcade Fire. All of the songs were constructed from cello loops. About the themes, Foon stated she was trying to create a "sonic landscape" that would allow her to explore themes such as urban landscapes, urban poverty and youth homelessness, environmental issues, and "the control/criminalisation of protest and political action, which is a huge issue in general and particularly in Montreal these days." About the mood of the compositions, "I don't consider the music to be reductively dark and cold, I was really seeking to hold a lot of different tones and feelings in tension: clear-eyed observation, reverie, meditation, activism/agency – and hope and warmth too. It's not a pretty world these days, but I wanted to also leave the listener with a sense of hope."
Exclaim.ca called it "a captivating combination of genres from
dream pop to chamber music to
ambient and
shoegaze."
The Skinny stated the project "eschews the overwrought melodrama of Thee Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire to Flames for an intricate and understated approach, blending soft, tender vocals with strings, drones and electronica." According to
Beats Per Minutes, "The songs on this record seem to revel in the evocation of tangible places. Each song seems to unfold into a vast landscape of dust-covered hills and barren horizons-all encased in a gauzy analog haze." In 2013 and 2014, Saltland toured Canada and the United States with
Spencer Krug's Moonface. In 2017, she released her second album, partly co-written with
Warren Ellis.
Waxing Moon (2020) In 2020, Foon released
Waxing Moon, her first album under her own name. In 2025, Foon released
Black Butterflies. ==Personal life==