Warm Nights

After seeing Robert Forster live again recently it sent me back to revisit his extensive solo back catalogue. My personal favourites were, and still are, Songs To Play, The Evangelist and The Candle and The Flame. Listening to all nine solo albums, it made me realise I had somehow missed the wonderful Warm Nights. Quite how I do not know. Produced by his old friend from the halcyonic Postcard days, Edwyn Collins, this is a truly unique album among his prodigious solo output. With added string and brass, there is a lightness about the album that is truly endearing, reminiscent of the best of Jonathan Richman's work. The reworked Rock'n'Roll Friend is rather splendid - a brave decision to rework one of the most beloved of Go Betweens songs, but it works beautifully. There's a groove throughout the album that isn't usually something you associate with Robert Forster, giving the songs more space and rhythm. Inspired by Brisbane, you can almost feel the humidity seeping through the grooves on this much underrated album.