Forbert in the Vancouver Sun

STEVE FORBERT Strange Names & New Sensations (429)
— T.H.

No longer a wunderkind and several labels down the line, Steve Forbert is still potent. He alludes to as much with the lead track, “Middle Age,” but the album’s title indicates he is still up for a challenge. He is a versatile, thoughtful writer capable of great intimacy one moment in “My Seaside Brown-Eyed Girl,” and rocking political commentary the next in “The Baghdad Dream.” As his voice has grown less boyish, he is leaning more toward thoughtful, literate country. That might sound like a contradiction in terms but, in his Dylaninfluenced way, this makes sense. B