The candle and the flame

"The shadow of mortality hangs over The Candle and the Flame. Made in the wake of his wife and musical partner Karin Bäumler's diagnosis with ovarian cancer in mid-2021, and in between rounds of surgery and chemotherapy, it is startling in its intimacy and quiet power. But it is ultimately life-affirming ... The songs are uncluttered, yet musical details sprout from everywhere like green shoots ... Forster has always been an incurable optimist. Even in the bleakest times, he will look to better ones ahead. Flamboyant on stage, behind the scenes he sought out, and achieved, a quiet, stable life. If that sounds boring, you should hear him sing about it. It's not very rock'n'roll. It's a lot more interesting and enduring than that".

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"The shadow of mortality hangs over The Candle and the Flame. Made in the wake of his wife and musical partner Karin Bäumler's diagnosis with ovarian cancer in mid-2021, and in between rounds of surgery and chemotherapy, it is startling in its intimacy and quiet power. But it is ultimately life-affirming ... The songs are uncluttered, yet musical details sprout from everywhere like green shoots ... Forster has always been an incurable optimist. Even in the bleakest times, he will look to better ones ahead. Flamboyant on stage, behind the scenes he sought out, and achieved, a quiet, stable life. If that sounds boring, you should hear him sing about it. It's not very rock'n'roll. It's a lot more interesting and enduring than that".

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"Defiant opener "She's A Fighter" is swiftly followed by a series of poignant reflections on the passage of time, with hightlights including the heartbreaking "The Tender Years" and "It's Only Poison" (...), which could have fallen off the Velvets' third album. Encouragingly perhaps, the customary streak of wry humour remains unvanquished ("I Don't Do Drugs, I Do Time"). An intimate and immersive experience".

"The past might be intoxicating, but The Candle And The Flame - lucid, conversational, immediate - is beautifully present in its moment".

"A prescient Go-Between in excelsis on eighth solo album: The sound of a man, entering his third act, still in service to the teenage dreams that prompted him to pick up a guitar in the first place. And as we all know, teenage dreams are hard to beat".

"A prescient Go-Between in excelsis on eighth solo album: The sound of a man, entering his third act, still in service to the teenage dreams that prompted him to pick up a guitar in the first place. And as we all know, teenage dreams are hard to beat".

"The past might be intoxicating, but The Candle And The Flame - lucid, conversational, immediate - is beautifully present in its moment".