FORSTER, ROBERT - The Evangelist (Sealed) (CD)

Remastered reissue of the album The Evangelist. The Evangelist by singer and songwriter Robert Forster was his first solo recording in 11 years. It may not be a record he ever planned to make at all after the unexpected death of Grant McLennan, his collaborator for over 25 years in the Go Betweens. The band had released and was on tour for Oceans Apart, a masterpiece surpassed only by 16 Lovers Lane, if at all. Forster and McLennan had begun writing a new Go Betweens album in 2006, when McLennan passed away in his sleep from natural causes just shy of his 47th birthday. Three of the songs on this album were co-written by the pair and contain McLennan's final lyrics. That said, The Evangelist is not an elegy or a conscious homage to McLennan. The remaining Go Betweens - bassist Adele Pickvance and drummer Glenn Thompson - make up the core band, with a small string section arranged by Audrey Riley (who did them for the Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express). Pianist Seamus Beaghen lends a hand on keyboards. Mark Wallis and Dave Ruffy produced The Evangelist. So is this a Go Betweens record without McLennan? No, but it's close, and was certainly a new brand of Forster solo album