March 6, 2002 11:50

GO-BETWEENS AT THE DOUBLE!

'Send Me A Lullaby', 'Before Hollywood' and 'Spring Hill Fair' will all feature up to a dozen unreleased tracks...

THE GO-BETWEENS first three albums are to be re-issued with extra tracks in May

'Send Me A Lullaby', 'Before Hollywood' and 'Spring Hill Fair' are to be re-released in expanded form according to the band's Robert Forster.

Each CD will feature up to a dozen previously unreleased tracks from those sessions, videos of singles and extensive sleeve notes.

"The idea actually came from Circus, our record label," says Forster, "and I think it will work. I'm looking forward to hearing them as much as anyone else because it's stuff I haven't heard for a long, long time. Strangely enough, we're on the outside of the whole process."

Forster says the Australian band's years in the early 80s were extraordinary fruitful. "We were coming up with so much good stuff," he says, "but London does that - it forces you to focus on your career. But we ended up with lots of good songs that just get left behind."

Aside from recently coming a father for the second time, Forster and Go-Betweens partner Grant McLennan are working on a new album, the follow up to 2000's comeback album, 'The Friends Of Rachel Worth'.

"We don't want to rush it," says Forster, "it has to be gold standard and so far it is. We'll be recording it in Australia later this year for release in February or March next year. That really excites me. It will be the first time we've had an album out at that time. It means we'll have the whole year ahead to make an impact."