Robert Forster

Robert Forster's endearingly fey persona, equal parts Bryan Ferry and gangly bookstore clerk, reaches full flower on the Go-Betweens' fourth album, which tempers the angularity and occasional claustrophobia of the band's previous work with a new airiness and nervous romanticism. The lighter sound can be partly attributed to the growing influence of co-leader Grant McLennan, whose wistful "Cattle and Cane" and "Bachelor Kisses" lent grace to the Go-Betweens' sometimes stilted early records. McLennan's touch is all over Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express his "In the Core of a Flame," a love song that manages to be at once tenderhearted and impatient, is a highlight but this is still mostly Forster's show, and as such is a revelation.

After releasing a brilliant single by the Apartments on their Able label in 1979, the Go-Betweens almost added the band's leader Peter Milton Walsh to their lineup, but ultimately it didn't work out. "Walsh is night," said Grant McLennan. "We are day," added Robert Forster. After some more false starts, Walsh re-formed the Apartments and set about proving the duo right. Signed to Rough Trade after impressing them with a demo, the Apartments' debut album from 1985, The Evening Visits…and Stays for Years is a dark, brooding affair that features Walsh's idiosyncratic vocals and lyrics that hint at major emotional upheavals, or at least some very deep feels. Walsh's biting croon is balanced by layers of jangling acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional strings and horns, with a production style that calls to mind that of his former mate's concurrent work

After releasing a brilliant single by the Apartments on their Able label in 1979, the Go-Betweens almost added the band's leader Peter Milton Walsh to their lineup, but ultimately it didn't work out. "Walsh is night," said Grant McLennan. "We are day," added Robert Forster. After some more false starts, Walsh re-formed the Apartments and set about proving the duo right. Signed to Rough Trade after impressing them with a demo, the Apartments' debut album from 1985, The Evening Visits…and Stays for Years is a dark, brooding affair that features Walsh's idiosyncratic vocals and lyrics that hint at major emotional upheavals, or at least some very deep feels. Walsh's biting croon is balanced by layers of jangling acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional strings and horns, with a production style that calls to mind that of his former mate's concurrent work

After releasing a brilliant single by the Apartments on their Able label in 1979, the Go-Betweens almost added the band's leader Peter Milton Walsh to their lineup, but ultimately it didn't work out. "Walsh is night," said Grant McLennan. "We are day," added Robert Forster. After some more false starts, Walsh re-formed the Apartments and set about proving the duo right. Signed to Rough Trade after impressing them with a demo, the Apartments' debut album from 1985, The Evening Visits…and Stays for Years is a dark, brooding affair that features Walsh's idiosyncratic vocals and lyrics that hint at major emotional upheavals, or at least some very deep feels. Walsh's biting croon is balanced by layers of jangling acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional strings and horns, with a production style that calls to mind that of his former mate's concurrent work