Robert Forster

Robert Forster - The Candle And The Flame
Great music and deep inspiration, can come at the most unexpected moments. At the most difficult times, and sometimes at the most contented ones, too.

In 2021 Robert Forster had a batch of songs written over a period of three years which he knew would be the basis of his next album. The songs felt strong, like they belonged together. They surprised him, too. They had different things to say, more openly personal about those closest to him. He had the beginnings of one other song too, just music and a melody, no lyrics as yet. There was no rush to complete it, since he was also working on his first novel. It felt like the new songs could wait.

Life soon had other plans. In July of 2021, Robert’s wife and sometimes musical partner Karin Bäumler was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and so began the intense emotional challenges of hospital, tests, chemotherapy, of hopes and fears. As it had often been in their lives together for 32 years, music was like a rock, a place they could go. “We started to strum songs at night to unwind after a big day, and Karin knew them because I had written them in the house,” Robert says. “When you are concentrating on a song the rest of life goes away, and music became a beautiful escape hatch for us.”

In July, Karin talked with Robert of the fight ahead. Soon after, with Karin resting in another room, Robert quietly played that new song he had set aside and whispered “She’s a fighter, fighting for good”. Those lines became the only lyrics needed for She’s A Fighter, the extraordinary opening track and first single from the new Robert Forster album, The Candle And The Flame.