Robert Forster - Strawberries (2025)
Strawberries finds Robert Forster moving through familiar terrain with renewed ease: warm guitars, measured tempos, storytelling rooted in everyday observations — but with a band whose presence adds quiet weight and occasional sweep.
The record opens with “Tell It Back To Me”, a jangly pop-rock number sprinkled with harmonica and gentle guitar interplay that echoes the breezy charm of his past. The tone is amiable, easygoing — an entry point that invites attention without demanding immersion.
Tracks such as “Good To Cry” and “All Of The Time” continue in that vein, blending rock, folk and roots-tinged instrumentation with Forster’s dry but evocative lyricism. Yet the centerpiece is “Breakfast On The Train”: an almost eight-minute narrative that unfolds slowly, acoustic guitar first, then subtle band additions — piano, keys, gentle rhythm — pushing the track toward a quietly cinematic climax. Its story — a night of connection, fleeting romance — becomes vivid in Forster’s voice, grounded in realism and tempered by poetic restraint. This ability to build emotional weight from humble materials stands out.
The title track “Strawberries” duets with his wife, giving a lighter, wistful air — a moment of domestic warmth or affectionate memory; simple, melodic, unpretentious. The album also ventures into more contemplative or melancholic territories with songs like “Such A Shame” or “Foolish I Know”, where soft melodies, introspective lyrics, and minimal arrangements allow vulnerability to surface quietly.
But Strawberries resists grand gestures. It’s not a sweeping concept album: it rarely demands full immersion. Instead, it offers short vignettes — stories, moods, small emotional windows — built by an experienced songwriter comfortable in simplicity. At times the melodies are too clean, the production too familiar, and the lightness undercuts potential depth. The cohesion of the album wavers: between rootsy rock, jangly pop, ballad, soft rock and narrative tunes, the identity shifts track by track.
Strawberries doesn’t seek to astonish — it seeks to observe, reflect, recall. It offers modest beauty, regret, hope, and the ordinary magic of daily life in miniature. As such, it isn’t a trip into darkness or a dive into cosmic atmosphere. But it carries warmth, a lived-in voice, and the honest craft of a veteran songwriter.
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Country: Australia
Final Verdict: 66% (Good Album)
Yearly Ranking: 194th / 823
Highlight: Tell It Back to Me
Made me think of:
Paul Simon
Jim Bob
Destroyer
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