The Go-Betweens play The Zoo on Saturday and Sunday.

For anyone who loves great songwriting, the announcement of a Go-Betweens return is a cause for celebration. Between them, Grant McLennan and Robert Forster have written some of the last quarter century’s most enduring songs: shoulda-been-hits like Spring Rain, Bachelor Kisses and Streets Of Your Town, brooding masterpieces like The Clarke Sisters, Love Is A Sign and The House That Jack Kerouac Built and drop dead rock classics like Cattle And Cane, Bye Bye Pride and People Say. I could spend the whole article (and indeed many pages) listing the Go-Betweens’ great creative achievements, but there is news to report. The band is not only playing some Brisbane shows, but also entering the studio to record a follow-up to 2000’s exquisite Friends Of Rachel Worth long player.

“We’d been working together infrequently, but from about 2000, it felt like it was time,” says Grant McLennan of the 12-year silence between 16 Lover’s Lane and Rachel Worth.

In this writer’s opinion, Rachel Worth felt like they’d never been away. Grant believes the natural working relationship and friendship between him and Robert is to thank.

“It feels really good working with Robert again,” he says. “We bring guitars and talk about movies and books. It feels so natural.”

There’s also the issue of unfinished business on the live circuit, following the band’s triumphant appearance at the Big Day Out in early 2001.

“It felt a bit weird at the beginning of last year playing and then having it end with the Big Day Out shows,” says Grant. “I was a bit pissed off that we couldn’t play Brisbane.”

But this is being happily rectified with upcoming shows at The Zoo. Expect a combination of oldies and brand newies.

“The only argument is how much new stuff to play,” says Grant. “We want to feature a lot of new songs, but by the same token it does take a bit of the surprise away when the record comes out if you play too much new stuff beforehand. Personally, I like to see a band do both unrecorded songs and songs I recognise and like. So there’ll be a bit of both in our shows.”

Do you have any favorite Go-Betweens songs when it comes to performing?

“Yeah, there’s always songs I really enjoy playing. Robert and I try to get a balance between the songs he sings and the songs I sing and get a kind of dialogue going,” Grant says. “Some of the ones I really love to play include Love Is A Sign by Robert and another one by Robert called Snake Skin Lady which I think is a just hilarious title. Also, I always like playing Bye Bye Pride and Cattle And Cane. They’re songs you can play either on one guitar, as part of a band or with a whole orchestra.”

But Grant and Robert have their eye firmly set on the future, with plans underway for the Go-Betweens’ eighth studio album.

“It’s a very exciting time for us,” says Grant. “This will be an even-numbered album, which tend to be my personal favorite records. It feels like it’ll be big, in terms of ambition. We’re going to Neptune instead of just the moon!”

One appealing factor of the Go-Betweens is there can be a long silence, but it always seems natural for them to re-appear. It never smacks of ‘comeback’. Culture Club they ain’t.

“If there’s such thing as a modern band, it’s us,” says Grant. “For a lot of other bands, there’s a definable period where they sum up a certain time or style. But that definable period has never been part of us. The songwriting hasn’t changed that much in the Go Betweens since the late 1970s. The same things inspire us, you know, the notion that art can make a difference.”

Also, the Go Betweens have influenced a whole generation of younger bands on an international level, from Sleater-Kinney to Belle And Sebastian, and yet remain such a distinctly Brisbane act. The spacious front porch ambience of the Queensland capital permeates their every note.

“I get a lot of energy from Brisbane, with the river and the artistic scene,” says Grant. “I’ve got a real spiritual connection to the town. It’s really good now that whole ‘Brizvegas’ thing has passed – we can just get on with it. It’s like a big village and has a good art scene. There’s not so much pretension.”

And Grant certainly agrees that despite the worldly appeal of the Go-Betweens, Brisbane will always be an important inspiration for the band.

“Very much so,” he says. “The idea of returning to the source is something that appeals to me.”