Robert Forster Announces New Album, ‘The Candle And The Flame'; Shares New Single

19 October 2022 | 8:00 am | Mary Varvaris

Robert Forster followed a very different path for this album.

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Beloved singer-songwriter and founder of The Go-Betweens Robert Forster has announced that his 8th album, The Candle And The Flame, will be released on 3 February 2023, and has released a new single, She's A Fighter

Forster followed a very different path for an album that became extremely personal.

"In early July last year, Karin Bäumler, my wife and musical companion for thirty-two years was diagnosed with a confronting case of ovarian cancer. It was a time of shock and grief, and that same month, she embarked on a regime of chemotherapy treatment," Forster wrote in a revealing Facebook post.

"One night, when sitting cross-legged on the couch, after we had played a song, Karin looked up from her xylophone and said, 'When we play music, is the only time I forget I have cancer.' That was a big moment," he continued. Many friends in Brisbane supported the couple, with former Go-Betweens and Warm Nights bass player, Adele Pickvance, bringing meals to the house. One night, Forster asked her to bring a bass guitar and amplifier, and they played songs together.

"In October, Karin was scheduled for surgery. We booked a studio, and on September 27th, the four of us, sitting in a circle, recorded ten songs live in 7 hours. Whatever would happen in the future, we would always have the tape. Over the next months, when Karin was strong enough, and Covid numbers were low, we booked odd days in the studio." Their daughter Loretta would sometimes join them, too. Karin led the creation of the album. She found enjoyment "away from hospital visits and scans and blood tests. In early March, with her chemotherapy course just finished, we did our last day in the studio."

"We wanted you to know the story of the creation of the record first and why it exists. Why these musicians are playing on it. Why there isn't layers of production, instead a live, catch a moment feel to the sound. Two of the songs on the album are from that September 27 recording. We didn't know we'd started an album, but we had, in the shadow of Karin's hospital visits.

"With a challenging year behind her, Karin is feeling strong and positive now and she can't wait for our music to go out of our house and into the world. It may seem strange making an album in these circumstances, and looking back, we really don't know how we did it, but we do know that it helped us just so much as a family. It was done in drops and gave us this other reality we could live in. Something that music is great in giving."

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Forster concluded the post by writing: "The album is called The Candle And The Flame. We hope you will enjoy it!"

Listen to She's A Fighter below.