the evangelist [CD]

This is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of work, and I think it has to be heard like that, almost as a continuous suite of songs, not something that can be dipped into a track here and another there. It's the sound of a mature man counting his blessings and at the same time mourning the death of one of his dearest friends, and it contains some of the warmest and saddest words this fine lyricist has ever written. I love its sound, the rich simplicity of instrumentation, from that first confident flickery twitch of a Forsterian guitar riff at the beginning to that elegiac, lilting piano motif at the end, and I love especially the amazing tenderness in his voice, especially on Demon Days, and the way he sings "baby" in the title track...I think it's the most honest, humane, deeply felt album any of us will have heard, or will hear, for a long long time

Completely agree with the reviewer who cites The Go Betweens and The Triffids as the greatest Australian musical exports of the 1980,s -though I would add Nick Cave in there as well. The Go Betweens always had two distinct styles for me. Robert Forsters songs were more angular and difficult to get a handle on -though they mostly rewarded any effort made to get beneath their skin. Grant McLennan though was just an effortlessly brilliant song writer, to my mind as good as Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson in that he just seemed to have an instinctive knack for conjuring beguiling and memorable songs. "Cattle And Cane" , Streets Of Your Town ", the wondrous "Quiet Heart" or "Haven,t I Been A Fool" from his magnificent debut solo album "Watershed".

It's no surprise that Robert Forsters first solo album since McLennan,s tragically premature death at the age of 48 is suffused with the spirit of the man who Forster calls "My best male fiend and my working partner". Three of the songs on the album "Demon Days" , "Let Your Light In Babe" and "It Ai,nt Easy" were started by McLennan and completed by Forster including some of the lyrics. Demon Days was the most complete, with a chorus and five lines written of the first verse; the other two songs, "Let Your Light In, Babe"and "It Ain,t Easy", had chorus lyrics only. For "Let Your Light In," he constructed a narrative that had come to him after reading a 19th-century poem of erotic romance set in a church.

Does it sound too sentimental to say that these three songs are the best things on the album? Possibly but that,s the way I feel ."Demon Days" is one of the most purely beautiful songs McLennan has written .(He was so excited about it he called Forster over to his place to give him a sneak preview) It has a gorgeous quartet string arrangement by Audrey Riley who worked with the Go Betweens on "Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express" and is the most poignant track helped considerably by Forsters unusually sensitive vocal .Go-Betweens bassist Adele Pickvance and drummer Glen Thompson are also featured on the album . "Let Your Light In Babe" has an infectious glistening mandolin melody and shuffling percussion while "It Ai,nt Easy" glory,s in sprightly guitar and pirouetting violin.

The Forster songs meanwhile vary in quality though all are worth hearing . "From Ghost Town" is a truly lovely piano led ballad with plangent strings and cooing female vocal backing ."Lets move on, it,s gone" he sings though you get the feeling it won,t be that easy for him. The title track has another swooning string arrangement with crystalline guitar while album opener "If It Rains" is ushered in on a Casio drone and carefully plucked nylon string guitar and Forsters most typically austere vocal. "Did She Overtake You" bundles along on infectious electric and bass guitar . The lack of percussion on the album is most noticeable on more lightweight tracks like "Pandanus" and "A Place To Hide Away" so the sudden thump of the drums and fat Hammond organ of "Don,t Touch Anything " come as a welcome vivid surprise.

There is no doubt that for those of us who loved GW McLennan,s work our opinion of this album is coloured somewhat by his death. But that,s only right, after all Robert Forsters song writing is coloured by it too , but even more so. Robert Forster is often cited as writing from a cerebral standpoint but with The Evangelist he has written from the heart. He should do it more often , it suits him . Consequently this is the album that most recalls his mate McLennan ....how very apt

The Go Betweens and The Triffids were, for me, Australia's greatest musical exports of the 1980s. The core of the Go-Betweens was the songwriting partnership of Grant McLennan and Robert Forster, who together created a run of fantastic albums of (gulp) literate guitar indie pop through the 1980s, topped by the brilliant 16 Lovers Lane. When the Go-Betweens split, McLennan and Forster each continued to release pleasing and enjoyable solo albums that never quite hit the heights of their work as Go-Betweens. Like Lennon and McCartney (and oddly 'McLennan' seems to embrace both those names) the pair were characterised as having distinctive styles; McLennan was seen as the softer, more personal writer with Forster being more acerbic and tart. Putting it simpler still McLennan wrote from the heart (exemplary track: Cattle and Cane) and Forster from the head (exemplary track: Part Company). Like most generalisations this is too simplistic but it is suggestive that when Forster and McLennan re-formed The Go-Betweens their combined strengths helped to provide the balance and rigour occasionally missing from the solo albums. We, the lucky listeners, were treated to a short run of new Go-Betweens albums that each improved on the last. Their final collaboration, Oceans Apart in 2005, was critically hailed and appreciated by fans at the time. Retrospectively, with the death of Grant MacLennan last year,it now has to serve as a (fortunately fitting) summary and conclusion to their career.

Robert Forster's latest album of course cannot help but be shadowed by McLennan's passing. Presumably both were going to continue as The Go-Betweens, as a handul of the tracks here incorporate some of Grant McLennan's lyrics. Whatever the intention, The Evangelist is a Forster solo album which addresses this tragic event and which in the process provides some balm for our souls. Forster is bruised (acknowledging that "something's not right, something's gone wrong") but trying to create good from misfortune if you can only learn to look at it the right way: "If it rains we won't let it run away". The tone is mainly rueful and melancholic. The lyrics are by and large direct, straightforward and affecting, the tunes and arrangements plaintive and unadorned. The quality of the songs make an appropriate tribute to his much missed friend. If you loved The Go-Betweens and were hit by McLennan's death then you will need no urging to get this album. But get your hanky ready.