F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote there are no second acts in American lives, but with The Evangelist, Australian songwriter Robert Forster is entering a new incarnation of a career that began alongside Grant McLennan in the Go-Betweens in 1978. In 1990, that band split apart. Quality solo albums followed from both of The Go-Betweens' songwriters, but Forster and McLennan’s careers were caught in the shadow of what might have been. A reunion, 2000’s The Friends of Rachel Worth, was followed by two further Go-Betweens albums, but that chapter closed with McLennan’s death from a heart attack in 2006.

Forster is too often described as the Lennon to McLennan’s McCartney, but a better comparison may be to John Cale and Lou Reed, with Forster the more reserved pop chameleon. Indeed, a Velvet Underground chug separates “Pandanus” and “Did She Overtake You” from The Evangelist’s opening songs. “If It Rains” begins with a spooky harmonium in the sort of neo-western setting so inherent in Australian songwriters from Forster to Nick Cave. Like Cave, Forster peppers The Evangelist with biblical imagery — rainfall will prompt Forster to “worship again,” the pert “Let Your Light In, Babe” (one of three songs written with McLennan) opens near a church, and the title track is an epic mix of arranged marriages, wooden pews, gold-digging and sailing.

The final three songs on The Evangelist serve as a poignant epitaph for McLennan. “Don’t Touch Anything” sounds as if it were played by The Band, and Forster lies about self-control and mixes pretentious declarations with odd jokes. He reveals his true self over a lost glove, of all things, admitting “I never had a doubt about me and you.” McLennan’s own melody underpins “It Ain’t Easy,” with Forster’s electric guitar rattling through a death-flaunting hoedown, ensuring a proper wake. On “From Ghost Town,” Forster sounds like he’s collecting his thoughts as he composes — a neat bit of songwriting that captures the unpredictable emotions that accompany grief. The Evangelist was bound to be explored for Forster’s thoughts on McLennan, but we’re lucky to hear an example of pop’s embrace of broader subjects as he moves beyond his second act.