Search - Robert Forster :: The Evangelist

The spirits of both McLennan and The Go-Betweens are keenly

loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 04/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the Go-Between's now forever sundered by the untimely passing of Grant McLennan, Robert Forster has now gone forward with his fifth solo album, "The Evangelist." The spirits of both Mr. McLennan and The Go-Betweens are keenly felt here: "The Evangelist" features the last three writing credits penned by Forster and McLennan, and both Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson, the other two members of the latter version of the band, ply their skills on multiple instruments, in addition to their respective duties on bass and drums. Still, it's hard not to be listening for McLennan's guitar or voice here.



Without becoming mired in sentimentality, Mr. Forster pays tribute to the late McLennan, in this well-produced, great sounding recording. There is enough variation in the tone and tempo among the songs to keep you paying attention or from feeling stymied, though some songs seem a bit undone. For example, the bright airy, Let Your Light In, Babe---the most uptempo track here---is followed by the darkly, dry, A Place to Hide Away, a solo number with just Forster and his guitar that seems somewhat out of place.



After several listens, I keep being drawn to a number of the songs---If It Rains Demon Days, It Ain't Easy, and Let Your Light In, Babe---and feel certain I'll be playing this CD quite a bit, though it may not be everyday fare."

The Ghost and the Evangelist: Channeling McLennan & restarti

Lypo Suck | Hades, United States | 04/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Evangelist" is a crucial step in Robert Forster's career: it's his 1st solo album in 12 years, and 1st release since the untimely death of Grant McLennan, his longtime song-writing partner in the Go-Betweens. As such, it's an album that shows Forster in the process of essentially grieving the loss of McLennan, reflecting, and getting back on his feet. The impetus for this record came in part from 3 unfinished songs McLennan began before his passing. Forster selected and finished these songs, and built the rest of the album around them with his own material.



While not flawless, it's an emotionally moving album of tremendous depth. At least half the songs go for slower, reflective moods, with alluring chamber pop string arrangements and acoustic guitar, giving the album an almost pastoral feel and gentle pace not unlike sections of John Cale's masterpiece, "Paris 1919."



The spare opener "If It Rains" recalls the more restrained moments of Forster's debut, while symbolically reaching back in time before Grant's death to foreshadow the tragedy that lay ahead. Then comes the lushly gorgeous and achingly sad "Demon Days," one of McLennan's three tunes, on which Forster sings in a gentle and tender way, sounding as if he's choking up, on the verge of tears. The refrain (written by McLennan) "Something's gone wrong, something's not right," is especially poignant, and oddly chilling given the song's context. Few artists today make music *this* emotionally resonant.



The closing, "From Ghost Town" is a beautiful eulogy for McLennan. It's both a brutally honest and tenderly loving portrait of a man with whom Forster was extremely close. Musically, the piano-driven song is appropriately haunting and beautiful, with an elegantly sad chord progression and moody, impeccably tasteful string arrangement.



Of the more upbeat songs, "Did She Overtake You" is easily a standout, with its melodically inventive chord progression and rocky, slightly off-kilter feel. Catchy and cool, it might be the album's most Go-Betweens-esque song. "Don't Touch Anything" isn't up-tempo, but exercises Forster's Dylan obsession in spades while building up a dense, lumbering force. "Pandanus" is nice, simple pop that recalls the Go-Betweens' 2003 album "Bright Yellow Bright Orange" in both its sound and stripped-down melodic sensibilities.



There are a few low points: "It Aint' Easy" is flimsy, generic filler to these ears, while curiously, "Let Your Light in Babe" sounds like an inferior and sped-up remake of the great "Born to a Family" from the Go-Betweens' final album, "Oceans Apart." But these are the only two blemishes on what is an otherwise fine record. (Oddly, these are the other two McLennan songs Forster chose to complete).



"Calling From a Country Phone" remains my favorite Forster solo album, but "The Evangelist" easily runs a close second. While "The Evangelist" can certainly be seen as a kind of closure (for the death of both the Go-Betweens and McLennan), I hope that it also proves to be a foundation on which this consistently talented and intriguing artist reestablishes a brilliant solo career."

Tombstones, cobblestones . . .

Boxodreams | district of columbia | 09/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I chose to wait, lay off it for a while, before I wrote about "The Evangelist." How could it not be so fraught with weight; anguish; helpless, downward trajectory? How could it not steer you right back to mourning? Those who know know this is Robert Forster's first album since the death of his beloved friend and partner in the Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan. The two opening tracks, "If It Rains" and, particularly, "Demon Days," are so hushed and haunted by sadness, the tone feels set for the entire album, an album that can at times barely find room to breathe under the enormity of those songs. I'd lay on the couch in the dark, put the disc on and immediately feel buried under the past and loss. Finally, I took the damn thing out of the house and put it in the car for driving and willed its other songs to show themselves, and, lo and behold, they did! "Pandanus" is a lovely, muscular and jazzy pop song, like Forster's old Go-Betweens comebacker "Make Her Day" from "Bright Orange, Bright Yellow;" "Let Your Light In, Babe" is jaunty fun, like a great old folk tune that is far more story form and less impressionistic than most of Forster's work; "It Ain't Easy" nails a terrific hook in another fast-paced shuffle that continues the path forged by "Born to a Family" on "Ocean's Apart." True, the album ends with the melancholy piano memorial "From Ghost Town," almost a bookend to the old "Dusty In Here" from "Before Hollywood" way back when, but in a different listening context, the rush of the road, the album now breathes and I love it more for its revealed depth. I saw Robert Forster in New York at Joe's Pub last night, with old Go-Between sidekicks Adele Pickvance (terrific bass player) and Glen Thompson (played guitar mostly while a young kid took the drums) and they were on fire. From "121" as the opener to "Head Full of Steam" from "Liberty Belle..." to the new record, the stuff just kept flowing out, song after song. On line before the show, the fans, now mostly in their forties, braced for a sad night, but it was, instead, a night of rock n' roll. Robert called it the best 70 minute the band perhaps had ever put together and the future of possibility appeared to open up. The guy is just so terrific, so welcoming in so many ways, I'm proud to call myself a fan. He invited the lot of us out for drinks on the Bowery afterward and I followed along to the little dive where he held court into the morning. You can still remember the past, bittersweet, but if Robert Forster has gone back out on the road, come home to rock 'n' roll, I'm putting away my sadness, too, excited to be singing his songs again, ready to continue tagging along."