{"title":"Robert Forster","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRobert Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, born on 29 June 1957 in Brisbane, Australia. He is best known as a founder member of the iconic band The Go-Betweens in 1978. With his distinctive voice and poetic lyrics, Forster has made a significant impact on the music industry. Currently married to Karin Bäumler, he is also a proud father.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith his deep connection to the Australian music scene, Robert Forster has established himself as a respected figure in the industry. His contributions to The Go-Betweens have left an indelible mark on alternative rock and indie pop genres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a solo artist, Forster continues to captivate audiences with his heartfelt songwriting and soulful performances. His work reflects his passion for storytelling and evokes a sense of nostalgia that resonates with listeners around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-candle-and-the-flame","title":"The Candle and the Flame","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed Australian singer - songwriter Robert Forster releases his 8th solo album \u003ci\u003eThe Candle And The Flame\u003c\/i\u003e. It's an album for Forster that has taken a very different path in creating than his previous works. The first single is titled 'She's A Fighter'. It reveals only part of what became a journey of creating music with family and friends with a need to find joy and solace in the face of adversity. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Candle And The Flame\u003c\/i\u003e consists of 9 songs written by Robert. Produced by Robert, Karin Bäumler and Louis Forster (The Goon Sax), the album was mixed by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey) and features former Go-Betweens and Warm Nights bass player Adele Pickvance as well as Scott Bromiley and Luke McDonald (The John Steele Singers), who worked on Robert's \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSongs To Play\u003c\/i\u003e albums. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The recording sessions for the album were done sporadically over six months. Sometimes just one or two days a month. As that was all Karin's strength and condition allowed her to do. So we had to record 'live', catching magical moments and going for 'feel'. And that became the sound of the album.\" says Robert. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tapete","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP | Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":50384666296651,"sku":"1170687","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50384669573451,"sku":"1170685","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50384672391499,"sku":"1170686","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50384674390347,"sku":"1170684","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ba8e6764-8bd5-4045-ba90-e0d5b2b639ee_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726302223"},{"product_id":"grant-and-i-inside-and-outside-the-go-betweens-1","title":"Grant and I: Inside and Outside The Go-Betweens","description":"\u003cp\u003eRough Trade Books of the Year 2017 No: 4\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrant and I\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e: Inside and Outside The Go-Betweens\u003c\/i\u003e is an extraordinary portrait of an intense, creative, sometimes fraught friendship between \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.roughtrade.com\/gb\/artist\/robert-forster\"\u003eRobert Forster\u003c\/a\u003e and Grant McLennan that represented a genuine meeting of artistic minds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1980s songwriting partnership of McLennan \/ Forster was a little like an Australian Lennon \/ McCartney. The pair wrote all the band’s distinctively original material and, like their more famous counterparts, shared the credits and alternated on lead vocals; both also played guitar. They formed The Go-Betweens in 1977, in possibly the quirkiest of all rock-band beginnings, before disbanding in 1989. A second incarnation, with Robert and Grant the constant in both lineups, endured from 2000 to 2006, the year of Grant’s premature death. Robert and Grant were arts undergraduates at university in the seventies, where they bonded through a shared passion for literature and film. (Their band name was taken from L.P. Hartley’s novel of the same name, and much of their material was inspired by other cultural works.) In \u003ci\u003eGrant and I\u003c\/i\u003e, the reader is given a front-row seat at the sessions that produced an incredibly prolific and diverse song catalogue, and is also taken backstage to the sometimes troubled rise and fall of the band itself. The band released nine studio albums, including their best known, \u003ci\u003e16 Lovers Lane \u003c\/i\u003e(1988), and three live albums. Just as The Go-Betweens were like no other music group, so this book is like no other music memoir. It is wise and witty, poignant, insightful, self-deprecating and knowledgeable. Robert Forster is as natural a storyteller and prose writer as he is a songwriter,\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Omnibus","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50452449984843,"sku":"1010342","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5c369c41-612e-4b3e-8974-678218b97ced_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727152826"},{"product_id":"songs-to-play","title":"Songs to Play","description":"\u003cp\u003eBrand new solo album from \u003cstrong\u003eGo Betweens\u003c\/strong\u003e founder. \u003cem\u003e'Songs to Play'\u003c\/em\u003e is Robert's first album in 7 years and is really nothing like he's ever done before, although it retains many of the qualities we know from his songwriting: highly melodic, with incisive, witty lyrics attuned to real people and real lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe surprise is the spirit of the record, its sense of adventure and fun - especially after the meditative reflections of \u003cem\u003e'The Evangelist'\u003c\/em\u003e (recorded a year after the death of The Go-Betweens co-founder Grant McLennan). Seven years has brought a bolder, wilder approach to sound ... and a set of truly inspiring compositions. Pop songs. Five minute epics. A bossa nova tune. Singer-songwriter classics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdd the more experimental and detailed production assistance of Bromley and McDonald and no wonder - from the album's opening lines on the super-charged \"\u003cem\u003eLearn To Burn\u003c\/em\u003e\" - Forster is bursting to get out and tell his story. Time's a sequence and you wait for changes. Problem is you know I've got no patience. I've got no desire to be the fourth person in line. Seven years in the making. And worth every minute.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLP - With CD Version.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tapete","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471087833419,"sku":"391511","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50471088062795,"sku":"391512","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b753ab5f-28d8-403e-b429-97780fb08c73_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727390867"},{"product_id":"inferno-1","title":"Inferno","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e is acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Robert Forster's first solo album in four years - his second album over the last eleven years. Forster only makes records when he feels he has the songs - on \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e, he has nine he totally believes in. They range from the exhilarating top ten pop of \u003ci\u003eInferno (Brisbane In Summer)\u003c\/i\u003e, the beach shack groove of \u003ci\u003eLife Has Turned A Page\u003c\/i\u003e, via 'Remain's 1977 New York strut, to finish in a way that this concise, brilliant, drama and wit filled album only can - on the big build epic \u003ci\u003eOne Bird In The Sky. Inferno\u003c\/i\u003e was made in Berlin in 2018, during the hottest German summer in decades. Noted producer \/ engineer Victor Van Vugt (Beth Orton \u003ci\u003eTrailer Park\u003c\/i\u003e, P J Harvey \u003ci\u003eStories From The City, Stories From The Sea\u003c\/i\u003e), recorded the album; the first time he and Forster had worked together since Van Vugt engineered Forster's debut solo album classic \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past\u003c\/i\u003e in Berlin in 1990. \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e in its making is a perfect mix of the familiar and the new. Also working with Forster again, are Brisbane based multi-instrumentalists Scott Bromley and Karin Bãumler from \u003ci\u003eSongs To Play\u003c\/i\u003e (2015), while new recruits are drummer Earl Havin (Tindersticks, Mary J. Blige) and keyboardist Michael Muhlhaus (Blumfeld, Kante). Four musicians from the corners of the world, who, with Van Vugt's bold and beautiful production, sound like a band of the ages. In front of them, Forster delivers the best vocal performances of his career.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black Vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ - Rough Trade Exclusive. Limited to 200 Copies on Silver Vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tapete","offers":[{"title":"Silver | LP","offer_id":50471609565515,"sku":"1055381","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471609336139,"sku":"1052334","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50471609893195,"sku":"1052335","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0edc1d1f-b1f1-45e7-9b84-fcfad3cac226_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727410035"},{"product_id":"the-evangelist","title":"The Evangelist","description":"\u003cp\u003eRemastered reissue of the album \u003cem\u003eThe Evangelist\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Forster\u003c\/strong\u003e released \u003cem\u003eThe Evangelist\u003c\/em\u003e as his first solo recording in 11 years. It may not have been a record he planned to make at all, following the unexpected death of his collaborator \u003cstrong\u003eGrant McLennan\u003c\/strong\u003e from the Go Betweens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe band had just released and was on tour for \u003cem\u003eOceans Apart\u003c\/em\u003e, a masterpiece only surpassed by \u003cem\u003e16 Lovers Lane\u003c\/em\u003e. Forster and McLennan were working on a new Go Betweens album in 2006 when McLennan passed away in his sleep just before his 47th birthday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree of the songs on \u003cem\u003eThe Evangelist\u003c\/em\u003e were co-written by the pair and contain McLennan's final lyrics. However, the album is not an elegy or homage to McLennan. The remaining Go Betweens members, bassist \u003cstrong\u003eAdele Pickvance\u003c\/strong\u003e and drummer \u003cstrong\u003eGlenn Thompson\u003c\/strong\u003e, along with a small string section arranged by Audrey Riley and pianist \u003cstrong\u003eSeamus Beaghen\u003c\/strong\u003e, make up the core band. \u003cstrong\u003eMark Wallis\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eDave Ruffy\u003c\/strong\u003e produced the album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo is this a Go Betweens record without McLennan? No, but it's close, and certainly a new brand of \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e solo album. This CD comes in a Digipak with a booklet included.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tapete","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50472075329867,"sku":"1065525","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50472075526475,"sku":"1065524","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3ac7cc70-7254-4b55-aa00-fe5f59a374ce_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727418366"},{"product_id":"danger-in-the-past-reissue","title":"Danger in the Past (Reissue)","description":"\u003cp\u003e2020 sees the thirtieth anniversary of the album that launched the solo career of sometime Go-Betweens frontman Robert Forster. Upon its release \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past\u003c\/i\u003e met with universal acclaim from critics, even drawing comparison with Bob Dylan’s \u003ci\u003eBlood On The Tracks\u003c\/i\u003e in some quarters. To mark this milestone, Needle Mythology reissue expanded versions of both \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past \u003c\/i\u003eand its 1992 successor \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor\u003ci\u003e Danger In The Past,\u003c\/i\u003e Robert recorded in Berlin with an illustrious ensemble that included Bad Seeds alumni Mick Harvey (producer, multi-instrumentalist), Hugo Race (guitar) and Thomas Wydler (drums). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOut of print for over a decade , the LP reissue comes on heavyweight vinyl pressed at Vinyl Factory plus bonus 7”, housed in a gatefold sleeve. The bonus 7” features The Land That Time Forgot and, for the first time on vinyl, Falling Star\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50472922841419,"sku":"1084565","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/65a35ed7-4b3e-44e6-a75b-4e81858d85ea_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727424933"},{"product_id":"calling-from-a-country-phone","title":"Calling From a Country Phone","description":"\u003cp\u003e2020 sees the thirtieth anniversary of the album that launched the solo career of sometime Go-Betweens frontman Robert Forster. To mark this milestone, Needle Mythology reissue expanded versions of both \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past \u003c\/i\u003eand its 1992 successor \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1993 on Beggars Banquet records, \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone\u003c\/i\u003e has been remastered at Abbey Road, repackaged and reissued by Needle Mythology with brand new artwork featuring previously unseen photographs. The album also features brand new liner notes written by Robert Forster. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCalling From A Country Phone saw Robert return to Brisbane, working in the same studio where some of the earliest Go-Betweens recordings took place. In the words of music writer and author Andrew Mueller, the album comes as “a twinkling rebuke to any prejudice that wintry elegies to ebbing hope and deadpan surf-rock need be mutually exclusive propositions.” \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50472925725003,"sku":"1084514","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/76636bc3-99ff-41db-b286-5d10e5917201_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727424955"},{"product_id":"warm-nights-1","title":"Warm Nights","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 'Directors' Cut' re-issue, featuring revised tracklisting and previously unreleased material. Originally released in 1996, \u003ci\u003eWarm Nights\u003c\/i\u003e repositioned Robert’s standing as one of the great songwriters of the post-punk era. Robert recalls that producer Edwyn Collins “got the [intended] sound of the album completely: a dry low-end groove pitched somewhere between Creedence Clearwater Revival and Willie Mitchell’s early ’70s Hi Records work.” Towards the end of the sessions some complications arose – and it’s these complications that Robert has seized the chance to remedy for this new release of Warm Nights. “It was Edwyn’s idea,” explains Robert, “to bring in a three-piece brass section – it fitted some of the songs beautifully, but it was in the mixing of the brass and the effect it had on the running order that things got complicated, [resulting in] two changes to the album that have been bugging me for 25 years.” Finally, Robert can sleep easy. The revised edition of \u003ci\u003eWarm Nights\u003c\/i\u003e sees the inclusion of the brass version “Fortress” and the addition of \"Half The Way Home” (a song that Robert rashly demoted from the original album and is here for the first time on vinyl). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Complementing the revised iteration of \u003ci\u003eWarm Nights\u003c\/i\u003e is a 7\" EP featuring the original album version of “Fortress”, “Rock ’n’ Roll Friend”, “Hypnotized” (originally released on the Cryin’ Love CD single) and “Did You End Up With The One You Love?\", a beautiful, hitherto forgotten song Needle Mythology unearthed from the original tape reels from the West Heath recording sessions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50526084464971,"sku":"2021603","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50526083416395,"sku":"286291","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Warm_Nights_788b3e69_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728039410"},{"product_id":"beautiful-hearts","title":"Beautiful Hearts","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing its unanimously acclaimed expanded reissues of Robert Forster’s first two solo albums \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone,\u003c\/i\u003e Needle Mythology Records is proud to announce the long-awaited remastered reissue of Robert’s 1994 \u003ci\u003eI Had A New York Girlfriend\u003c\/i\u003e now retitled as \u003ci\u003eBeautiful Hearts\u003c\/i\u003e. The album saw Robert tackle a diverse array of his favourite songs from other composers – among them Mickey Newbury’s “Frisco Depot”, Martha and The Muffins’ “Echo Beach”, “Alone” by Heart and Guy Clark’s “Broken Hearted People\" Having had three decades to reflect on the record, Robert took this chance to revisit the album’s title and artwork. I Had A New York Girlfriend had been an eleventh-hour decision, a line taken from the Modern Lovers song “Old World”. The working title had always been Beautiful Hearts, a phrase borrowed from another song, “For Those” by Tindersticks. With the old title gone, the artwork – a New York street scene – no longer made sense. “So in its place,” explains Robert, “comes a contemporaneous photograph of me conducting a set of musicians crashing into the album’s opening cut ‘Nature’s Way’. Well… that’s the fantasy.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - First time on vinyl for this remastered deluxe reissue, the vinyl package is completed by a 7\" single that features Robert’s versions of “The Lady Don’t Mind” (Talking Heads) and “Freddy Fender’s Sohn” (F.S.K.). Remastered at Abbey Road.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50530408300875,"sku":"2021606","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50530407579979,"sku":"2021604","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0197188575076_7ca6b6e6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728078512"},{"product_id":"spring-grain-muesli","title":"Spring Grain Muesli","description":"\u003cp\u003eRobert's own recipe breakfast cereal, contains oats, sultanas, brazil nuts, almonds, coconut, seeds and puffed amaranth. And no sugar!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Needle Mythology","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50914545238347,"sku":"2047973","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/sg_80378152_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1732995074"},{"product_id":"strawberries-2","title":"Strawberries","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.roughtrade.com\/browse\/albums-of-the-year-2025\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlbums of the Year 2025: #99\n\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003ePicture one of our greatest living singer-songwriters in a kitchen. He is on holidays, he's just had a swim. His wife is out on the beach, and he finds himself faced with a bowl of irresistible strawberries. They're meant to be shared, of course, but their taste is \"\u003cem\u003eout of the ordinary\u003c\/em\u003e\", so he just can't help himself. Minutes later all of the delicious fruit are gone, but there's the germ of a song as the phrase \"\u003cem\u003eSomeone ate all the strawberries\u003c\/em\u003e\" has just popped into \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Forster's\u003c\/strong\u003e mind, sounding \"\u003cem\u003eso weird, but normal\u003c\/em\u003e\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThankfully, he has taken his guitar with him. As the story goes, his wife \u003cstrong\u003eKarin Bäumler\u003c\/strong\u003e not only forgave her husband, she actually joined him on a duet of what was to become the title song to his ninth solo album. \"\u003cem\u003eWhat can ordinary be?\u003c\/em\u003e\" is its wistful question, befitting the life's work of \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Forster\u003c\/strong\u003e who has perfected the art of being outré in a least ostentatious way, from his time in the Go-Betweens to his solo career, now spanning almost three decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInterrupted only by the old band's reformation in 2000 which ended with his songwriting partner \u003cstrong\u003eGrant McLennan's\u003c\/strong\u003e untimely death in 2006. But back to our scene in the kitchen, to \u003cstrong\u003eRobert\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eKarin\u003c\/strong\u003e, a guitar and an empty bowl: As a straight-up personal song, \"\u003cem\u003eStrawberries\u003c\/em\u003e\" is a bit of a red herring in the context of this new album that deals almost exclusively in observational character studies or, as the author would have it, \"\u003cem\u003estory songs\u003c\/em\u003e\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first song to point in this new direction was \"\u003cem\u003eAll of the Time\u003c\/em\u003e\", starting with the ominous couplet \"There's propaganda and there's truth \/ And there's a feeling that I get when I'm with you\". We never quite learn what sinister plot lurks in the background, but these words combined with the subtle suggestion of a glam boogie groove imply a certain clandestine sexiness not usually associated with the \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e canon. It was just this sort of language that I normally didn't use,” says the man himself, “It meant I wasn't going into my present situation. It just pushed me out there and made it less confessional. A lot more playful and a lot more story-orientated as well.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs it turns out, this storyteller who sees the world through the eyes of a film director, has a way with romantic fiction that is as emotionally involving as it is economical and free of all sentimentality, as showcased on \"\u003cem\u003eBreakfast on the Train\u003c\/em\u003e\", the obvious centrepiece of the album. At almost eight minutes length, it tells the story of a not-so casual romance between the two odd ones out in a bar full of rugby fans who end up spending the night in a hotel, laconically retold with possibly the most perfectly timed use of the word “fuck” ever encountered in a pop song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by an actual train journey through Scotland touring the previous album \u003cem\u003eThe Candle and the Flame\u003c\/em\u003e with his musician son Louis, this epic is an indisputable addition to the pantheon of \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Forster's\u003c\/strong\u003e best ever songs while \"\u003cem\u003eFoolish I Know\u003c\/em\u003e\", a tender tale of unrequited same-sex attraction, has to rank amongst his bravest and most beautiful. \u003cstrong\u003eLouis Forster\u003c\/strong\u003e, by the way, also makes an impressive appearance on lyrical lead guitar in \"\u003cem\u003eSuch a Shame\u003c\/em\u003e\", the moving story of an exhausted young rock star ending on the beautiful line “No one I've met has seen me yet at my best \/ No”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs on most of the album, the narrator clearly isn't \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e himself, just as he's not the English teacher meeting a French woman in the album's bouncy opener \"\u003cem\u003eTell it Back to Me\u003c\/em\u003e\". “Your world so different to mine”, \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e sings, “I was corporate, you were folk.” Clearly, this relationship was never going to last, but then again, as \u003cstrong\u003eRobert\u003c\/strong\u003e observes in the next song, it's “good to cry”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs his slapback echo vocals tuck into the rockabilly vibe of the song, you can hear \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e enjoying the company of his Swedish backing band: Producer \u003cstrong\u003ePeter Morén\u003c\/strong\u003e (of \u003cem\u003ePeter, Björn and John\u003c\/em\u003e fame) on guitar, \u003cstrong\u003eJonas Thorell\u003c\/strong\u003e on bass and \u003cstrong\u003eMagnus Olsson\u003c\/strong\u003e on drums, crucially augmented by \u003cstrong\u003eLina Langendorf\u003c\/strong\u003e on various woodwind instruments and \u003cstrong\u003eAnna Åhman\u003c\/strong\u003e on keys. The idea, writes \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e in his liner notes, was “to arrive in a town with a clutch of songs, to rehearse, record and mix an album with local musicians over a number of weeks, and then leave with the record done.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this spirit, almost all of \u003cem\u003eStrawberries\u003c\/em\u003e was rehearsed and arranged to be tracked live, with very few overdubs, at Stockholm's \u003cem\u003eINGRID\u003c\/em\u003e studios. \u003cstrong\u003eForster\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eMorén\u003c\/strong\u003e, a long-time fan from the times of the Go-Betweens, had met and bonded at an Australian festival they both played in 2016. They had toured together with the core of the \u003cem\u003eStrawberries\u003c\/em\u003e band (\u003cstrong\u003eOlsson\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eThorell\u003c\/strong\u003e) the year after that, so their musical common ground was well explored years before recordings began.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“It's great working with someone who is truly an auteur,” says \u003cstrong\u003ePeter Morén\u003c\/strong\u003e, looking back on the intense, focused four-week period working on the album in September\/October 2024, “That sense of direction that 'This is what I do, and this is who I am as I perceive it.' 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This product is an RSD Exclusive title and is not available to pre-order.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemaining stock available online from:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUS - 08:00 EST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEU - 14:00 CEST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUK - 20:00 BST (20\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome titles will sell out prior to online sale and some will only be available in specific regions. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSky Blue Vinyl of much sought after 2020 reissue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1993 on Beggars Banquet records, \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone\u003c\/i\u003e has been remastered at Abbey Road, repackaged and reissued by Needle Mythology with brand new artwork featuring previously unseen photographs. The album also features brand new liner notes written by Robert Forster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCalling From A Country Phone saw Robert return to Brisbane, working in the same studio where some of the earliest Go-Betweens recordings took place. 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This product is an RSD Exclusive title and is not available to pre-order.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemaining stock available online from:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUS - 08:00 EST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEU - 14:00 CEST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUK - 20:00 BST (20\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome titles will sell out prior to online sale and some will only be available in specific regions. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eClear Vinyl of much sought after 2020 reissue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003epon its release \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past\u003c\/i\u003e met with universal acclaim from critics, even drawing comparison with Bob Dylan’s \u003ci\u003eBlood On The Tracks\u003c\/i\u003e in some quarters. To mark this milestone, Needle Mythology reissue expanded versions of both \u003ci\u003eDanger In The Past \u003c\/i\u003eand its 1992 successor \u003ci\u003eCalling From A Country Phone\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor\u003ci\u003e Danger In The Past,\u003c\/i\u003e Robert recorded in Berlin with an illustrious ensemble that included Bad Seeds alumni Mick Harvey (producer, multi-instrumentalist), Hugo Race (guitar) and Thomas Wydler (drums).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOut of print for over a decade , the LP reissue comes on heavyweight vinyl pressed at Vinyl Factory plus bonus 7”, housed in a gatefold sleeve. 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