The Friends Of Rachel Worth

They've always been the pet love for critics and musos the world over, with Pavement, Belle And Sebastian and The Auteurs all queuing up with a trolley full of praises and cover versions.

In the twelve year hiatus since the sublime 16 Lover's Lane, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan have pursued their own moderately successful solo paths, and once seriously considered touring as 'The Australian Go Betweens'. Now, self-pisstaking rendered redundant, they are reunited at last on record.

Forster and McLennan split the album straight down the middle for equal helpings of each other's songs.

'Magic In Here' revisits the familiar McLennan theme of the transcendent yet temporal comfort of new love. A plaintive chorus ("I don't want to change a thing when there's magic in here/now the coast is clear") rings around a languorous arrangement courtesy of new girl pop geniuses Sleater Kinney, topped off with gorgeous backing vocals from Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker.

'German Farmhouse' sees Forster at his most obliquely humorous, retreating to drink beer in Bavaria and stage Pavarotti concerts in his secluded hide-away.

The album is shot through with gorgeous textures and tones with even the most jarring strokes of jangling guitar being imbued with a delicate, almost lazy sense of acoustic airiness.

'Heart And Home' is a love song so subtle it initially floats past like dandelion seed on a summer's breeze before blooming into a miniature classic.

The final track is a tribute to Patti Smith, and the title itself, 'When She Sings About Angels', hints at the irresistibly heartfelt sentiment of love that perfectly concludes The Friends Of Rachel Worth.

This is the second coming of a beautiful friendship.