As Robert Forster’s solo songwriting usually proceeds at a methodical pace, it is an unexpected delight to be welcoming a new album a mere two years after ‘The Candle and the Flame.’ This latest record, ‘Strawberries’, is out of the ordinary compared to Forster’s recent output. It was recorded in Stockholm and produced by Peter Moren of Peter, Bjorn and John fame and has more of a full band sound than recent outings. The songs revert to storytelling, character study narratives rather than the more autobiographical songs that were predominant on his 2023 release. While ‘Strawberries’ contains fewer songs than previous Forster albums (eight), it does include his longest song, the eight-minute epic, ‘Breakfast on the Train’. Other unexpected developments include Forster temporarily abandoning his traditional measured delivery to indulge in a semi-falsetto on ‘Diamonds’ which also allows space for Lina Langendorf’s freeform tenor sax wanderings.
However, despite having a wider palette than traditional Forster releases, there are still many characteristics that will appeal to his long-term fans. In fact, opening track ‘Tell It Back To Me’ has the giddy harmonic flourishes of peak 1980s Go-Betweens, combined with Forster’s economic sketches (“I taught English / you were French / we kissed on a bench / your world so different to mine.”) While the relationship is doomed, there are refreshing blasts of harmonica that blow away any blues. ‘Good To Cry’ is slight compared to the rest of the album, albeit with a hearty rootsy rock’n’roll feel from the band consisting of Moren (guitar), Jonas Thorell (bass) and Magnus Olsson (drums).
The album’s centrepiece comes with the aforementioned ‘Breakfast on the Train’. Its closest companion in Forster’s oeuvre would be ‘Songwriters on the Run’ from ‘Songs to Play’. It is given a “one, two, three’ count in followed by strummed acoustic guitar. Although the full band join in, the backing is sympathetic with special props to Anna Ahman’s subtly swirling keys, but never distracting for a narrative that is the song’s main element. Set against the backdrop of a rugby match in town, two old school acquaintances meet in a bar and are bonded by their outsider status, take a hotel room and make love. The comic set piece comes as “There was a family in the room next door /They were woken by the banging and the roar /They phoned reception to complain / Reception said over the volume of love we have no claim” followed by an immaculately placed, dual meaning “fuck.” It is a sublime mix of comedy and the prosaic with Forster putting on his meteorologist’s hat again (“there was drizzle, a threat of rain”) before ending with an arch reference to knowing why they are famished.
The title track sees a reversion to autobiography as Forster duets with his wife, Karin Baumler, on a tale of him gobbling some strawberries that were “out of the ordinary”. In its reference to “miracle days of happiness… miracle days of togetherness”, it is a striking portrait of gratitude, exemplified by the line “it took time to recover back from the edge of the knife”, acknowledging Baumler’s cancer treatment giving a song that initially appears frivalous an added depth. It has a jazzy music hall playfulness to it, a mood heightened by Langendorf’s sax. The accompanying video is shot in their kitchen which was also the setting for “The Tender Years’ from their previous album and gives his followers the sense of developing a stalker-like familiarity with their domestic arrangements.
Shifting mood again, ‘All of the Time’ is a mid-tempo rocker shrouded in mystery from its opening line (“there’s propaganda and there’s truth and there’s a feeling that I get when I’m with you”) while later Forster is whispering “there’s a murder with just one clue.” Beginning with what sounds like sleigh bells, ‘Such A Shame’ could be the most self-pitying festive ballad, almost Nick Cave-like, backed by piano and southern soul guitar. Forster portrays a character whose girlfriend and gardener have given up on him. There might be an element of self-mockery in the lines, “my agent used to tell me ‘you give people the shits’ / why can’t you be like everyone else ‘play the hits’ / that’s a good question and it’s a mystery to me” which could be interpreted as a wry commentary on his career. It ends with an acknowledgement that “no one I’ve met has seen me yet at my best” which has an air of regret rather than a boastful suggestion that better is to come.
‘Foolish I Know’ finds Forster inhabiting a character contemplating his attraction to another man while acknowledging “he’s straight so just let it go.” With its autumnal guitar from son Louis and wistful sax, it is deeply affecting. Closing with ‘Diamonds’ which unveils its surprises at frequent intervals, shifting between melancholic and the heaviest guitars ever to appear on a Forster song, his voice temporarily discarding his normal detached manner, sax jumping between bucolic and wild, it mirrors what has been the least predictable of his albums. The songs, styles and perspectives alter regularly. It is commendable for a 67-year-old artist in his fifth decade of recording to unleash his most adventurous album yet with a determination to explode his sound and while it might not have the consistency that fans might expect, there is still a significant proportion of songs that rank with his very best.
Robert Forster: Strawberries – Out 23 May 2025 (Tapete Records)
Forster – Strawberries (Official Video)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
