robert forster: inferno

"The jungle is coming up to the door, The birds that are calling are hard to ignore" Inferno is acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Robert Forster's first solo album since 2015 -- his second album over the last eleven years. Forster only makes records when he feels he has the songs -- on Inferno, he has nine he totally believes in. They range from the exhilarating top-ten pop of "Inferno (Brisbane In Summer)", the beach shack groove of "Life Has Turned A Page", via the 1977 New York strut of "Remain", to finish in a way that this concise, brilliant, drama- and wit-filled album only can -- on the big build epic "One Bird In The Sky". Inferno was made in Berlin in 2018, during the hottest German summer in decades. Noted producer/engineer Victor Van Vugt -- Beth Orton Trailer Park (1996), PJ Harvey's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000) -- recorded the album; the first time he and Forster had worked together since Van Vugt engineered Forster's debut solo album classic Danger In The Past in Berlin in 1990. Inferno 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 Songs to Play, 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 over the last four years Forster has been busy. He curated the acclaimed, Domino Records released, Anthology Volume 1 1978-1984 on his old band The Go-Betweens. His memoir Grant & I was Mojo and Uncut's "Book Of The Year". He continues to publish music journalism, play concerts, and he never stops writing beautiful songs.