- Robert Forster will almost certainly always be known, first and foremost, as one-half of the founding duo of totemic Brisbane band The Go-Betweens. Along the way, however, he has gradually pulled together -as well as an impressive array of biographical and music writing- a number of significant solo albums,
The newly released album Inferno is his seventh full-length, solo effort - four years since his last release. Whilst people familiar with Forster’s past material won’t find anything on this new selection that is a dramatic change of direction, there is still a lot of variety across the nine tunes. There are wistful ballads, punchy pop tunes and a range of different feels explored across this selection of high quality tunes.
One extra positive about the album, to my ears at least, is the quality of the singing. Whilst no slouch with the vocal-chords, it’s fair to say Forster is usually better known for his lyrics, song structure and the atmospherics he creates. There is certainly still some great wordplay, wit and imagery present on Inferno, but I think it contains, possibly, some of Forster’s best singing over a career that is now over forty years long.
For someone who was born, bred and is still based in Brisbane, it's hard to go past the title track - Inferno (Brisbane in Summer) - as a good sampler for the album. Perhaps a better representation of what Forster strives for in his songs and his storytelling, however, comes in the first track One Bird in the Sky. If you've partaken at all in the seemingly endless fondness that the world lavishes on The Go-Betweens, or even if you haven't, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by the slightly more obscure pleasure that Robert Forster brings. This gentle Inferno is as good a place to discover it as any.
- Andrew Bartlett.