Tender Years: A Brief Review Of The Candle And The Flame, The New Album From Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens)

With Robert Forster's wife's cancer diagnosis, things changed forever for the legend from The Go-Betweens. For a record recorded in spurts, over the course of months, in-between chemo treatments for his wife, The Candle and The Flame is a remarkably concise album. Possessed of a fierce immediacy of the sort that powered his earliest work with the late Grant McLennan, this Tapete Records release is one of Forster's strongest offerings in ages.

While "She's a Fighter" burns with energy, "Tender Years" is more introspective and languid. Necessarily serious in subject matter, the tune is unforced in its earnestness, as is "It's Only Poison", one of the strongest, most melodic numbers here. With backing vocals from his wife Karen, the composition blurs the lines between an artist's art and his or her life. I think that may have been the point. The playfully-titled "I Don't Do Drugs I Do Time" is another winner here, as is the catchy "Always", Forster's guitar on this one finding an understated hook that lingers in the brain. Closer "When I Was a Young Man" is introspective and autobiographical to a fault, Forster laying it out here like in his immensely wonderful book.

The press for The Candle and The Flame might lead one to imagine that this is a heavy record, given the subject matter. Oddly, this is one of Forster's most nimble outings in a very long time, with nothing here over-thought, or belabored in any way. The tunes fly by almost as if we're hearing a band play them for the first time together. It's a very DIY-kind of album, and Robert Forster's older, wiser, and more accomplished now, sure, but the charms of this album are not entirely unlike those of the first releases from his earlier, acclaimed band.

The Candle and The Flame is out tomorrow via Tapete Records.

[Photo: Stephen Booth]