Just caught wind of this article:

Herald Sun

Neil Finn's PR guy just confirmed this on Frenz.com, the Finn fanclub site. In summation, after Paul Hester's suicide Neil Finn and Nick Seymour (bass) naturally reconnected in a big way. Those two and Mark Hart (guitar/keyboards) reconvened for the planning of the new Farewell To The World CD/DVD (final Crowded House concert), and eventually Nick became part of Neil's next solo album. Neil had made a conscious decision to return to the songwriting of the Enz/CH days, feeling satisfied at the moment with his solo diversions. I'm sure a lot of things happened behind closed doors, and eventually, it was decided that the new album would be a Crowded House album. Mark is involved with the album and will be in the "touring" Crowded House.

The album features drummer Joey Waronker, who drummed on several of Beck's albums, the Smashing Pumpkins' Adore, Elliott Smith's Figure 8, and a few REM albums as well. He's a real pro, really versatile, one of the best "working" drummers out there. Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon) produced. At this point the touring drummer is undecided, but they've been auditioning for a while now.

What do the Finn fans here think of that? I'm pretty damn excited...nobody can replace Paul--what a fantastic drummer, and one in a million personality--but I never, *ever* thought I'd get a chance to see Crowded House again, or hear another album with their name on it, and even without Paul, I'm thrilled.

quote:

Originally posted by Commontone:
Just caught wind of this article:

Herald Sun

Neil Finn's PR guy just confirmed this on Frenz.com, the Finn fanclub site. In summation, after Paul Hester's suicide Neil Finn and Nick Seymour (bass) naturally reconnected in a big way. Those two and Mark Hart (guitar/keyboards) reconvened for the planning of the new Farewell To The World CD/DVD (final Crowded House concert), and eventually Nick became part of Neil's next solo album. Neil had made a conscious decision to return to the songwriting of the Enz/CH days, feeling satisfied at the moment with his solo diversions. I'm sure a lot of things happened behind closed doors, and eventually, it was decided that the new album would be a Crowded House album. Mark is involved with the album and will be in the "touring" Crowded House.

The album features drummer Joey Waronker, who drummed on several of Beck's albums, the Smashing Pumpkins' Adore, Elliott Smith's Figure 8, and a few REM albums as well. He's a real pro, really versatile, one of the best "working" drummers out there. Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon) produced. At this point the touring drummer is undecided, but they've been auditioning for a while now.

What do the Finn fans here think of that? I'm pretty damn excited...nobody can replace Paul--what a fantastic drummer, and one in a million personality--but I never, *ever* thought I'd get a chance to see Crowded House again, or hear another album with their name on it, and even without Paul, I'm thrilled.

I just don't know about this. I thought that their last album was their pinnacle and the farewell on the Sydney Opera steps was too perfect and complete a sendoff for any reunion/return to not involve some considerable danger of redundancy.

Having said this - Neil is a profoundly talented songwriter and when I heard Distant Sun (not their best I know) the other day I realised what a joy Crowded House had been - if this can be continued/bested - may the joy continue!

I'll try not to keep gushing about this...but I'll just say that, having read and watched about every Neil Finn interview I can get my hands on, I know that his decision to do this has to be about as well-thought-out as it can get. He's an extremely down to earth, astute, sensitive and intelligent guy, and as many objections as you or I might be able to think of against it, I gotta trust Neil on this one. I'm 100% confident that it's not even close to being about money, which is a big plus. As Neil stated in one article, playing with Nick again he realized that they have a certain chemistry between them that just couldn't be denied..and he's not prone to saying such things. I get the impression the stars just kind of lined up for this, mandated that it happen, and Neil/Nick/Mark aren't about to say "no."

Have to disagree about "Distant Sun" though...in my mind it's one of the band's best 5 songs, a sublime, beautiful gem.

quote:

Originally posted by Commontone:
I'll try not to keep gushing about this...but I'll just say that, having read and watched about every Neil Finn interview I can get my hands on, I know that his decision to do this has to be about as well-thought-out as it can get. He's an extremely down to earth, astute, sensitive and intelligent guy, and as many objections as you or I might be able to think of against it, I gotta trust Neil on this one. I'm 100% confident that it's not even close to being about money, which is a big plus. As Neil stated in one article, playing with Nick again he realized that they have a certain chemistry between them that just couldn't be denied..and he's not prone to saying such things. I get the impression the stars just kind of lined up for this, mandated that it happen, and Neil/Nick/Mark aren't about to say "no."

Have to disagree about "Distant Sun" though...in my mind it's one of the band's best 5 songs, a sublime, beautiful gem.

I didn't mean distant sun isn't a phenomenal song - I just wanted to avoid having it as a reasn for the 'house' to reform - personally I think it is reason to live - if they can build this 'i-am-driving-round-a-shining-coastal-road-which-makes-me-feel-like-my-woman-will-save-my-godforsaken-soul' vibe, well then I'm first to turn up to their reunion tour!

That's really, really cool.

The 'farewell' live record just shows what a great live band they were.

I'm excited about this beyond all good reason, I feel in a way lucky that I never got to see Crowded House the first time around (damn being born 10 years too late) because I don't have that live experience with Paul to compare it to, Paul really was one in a million and I'm so sad that the Crowded House I'll finally get the chance to see will be one without him.

But Crowded House!!!!!!!! (please excuse !!! I'm just really happy about this, really).

The new album is titled "Time On Earth," and it will have 12 tracks. I've heard a few of the new songs (live versions) and they're definitely keepers. One in particular that I've heard, "Heaven That I'm Making," has already burrowed its way deep into my brain, and this was just a solo Neil/acoustic guitar version. Imagining this song with the beautiful production it'll probably have, I'm very, very excited.

There's another song I've not heard called "People Are Like Suns" that's supposed to be just brilliant, up there with his best (Distant Sun/Into Temptation etc). Bic Runga heard an unfinished mix and was already speaking of it in legendary terms.

Even if the other 7 songs I haven't heard are just decent, I'm confident this will at least be a "good" worthwhile album. In reality I suspect it's gonna be very, very good, upholding the quality of their other 4 albums if not surpassing it.

I seem to be more excited about this than anyone around me (excluding some people here) but visiting the various fan forums, there is a huge worldwide buzz about this album/tour. They're playing Coachella as their first show, and apparently the interest people are showing in this is not far behind that for Rage Against The Machine's reunion. Pretty good...

After auditioning many of the best drummers in the world on three continents, Crowded House has named Matt Sherrod as the drummer for their world tour. He recently played with Beck on his tour for "The Information." I don't know a lot about him, but from some youtube stuff I watched he's clearly a fantastic drummer and seems to have the kind of personality and wit to keep up with the rest of the guys...can't wait to hear the bootleg from Coachella.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Commontone,

I feel a bit like a fanboy (I admit I am one) adding these updates with nobody responding...but 180 people have found it worth a look. Anyway, Crowded House are currently in England, rehearsing and recording a handful of final tracks for the new album. The full lineup is on board for these songs--including new drummer Matt Sherrod, and Mark Hart. Johnny Marr is also contributing guitar, and Steve Lillywhite is producing these last few tracks. Incidentally Mark also contributed "final touches" to the rest of the Ethan Johns-produced tracks.

They're really going all-out on this, which is great...it won't be a half-assed comeback, or a simple revival of the brand--a Neil Finn album slapped with the Crowded House name--which is what some people feared.

I really like the fact that Crowded House will reunite. Didn't know that the drummer committed suicide, though. For some reason that really touched me, considering I hadn't paid much attention to who he was 'till just now.

They've just completed the last four tracks with Steve Lillywhite...at this point "Time On Earth" is officially complete, and they reportedly are extremely happy with it and feel it stands up very well to any of the previous four...unlike some artists I'm inclined to believe in their objective judgement. There are no Brandon Flowers types in this band

Crowded House will be giving an interactive webcast, their first official "public" performance in over ten years, as a warmup for Coachella and to introduce their new drummer.

It will be this Saturday, March 17, at 3pm CST (10pm in Bath, England), at www.crowdedhouseofficial.com .

I caught their webcast yesterday, and it was great. It was done from Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England. Their new drummer Matt is quite good...it was clear he's still learning the songs and getting used to the guys, and has yet to put much polish/inventiveness on some songs beyond the basic beat, but I think after a few more shows he'll be fantastic.

The old Crowded House live magic is definitely still there. Neil's voice, amazingly, sounds just as good and strong as it did 10-15-20 years ago. He nailed the high notes on songs like "When You Come" with ease.

Both Beck and Steve Lillywhite emailed in some funny stuff. There was a lot of casual banter and it was great to see a band being so down to earth and unpretentious, just really enjoying the company and the music but still sounding like a top professional band.

The 8 new songs they played were pretty good in general, and a few stand out as potentially great. But it's hard to tell, many of their older songs I didn't really care for until a dozen listens or so, and then suddenly they were brilliant. There are some pretty funky ones that reminded me of Beck, or even Steely Dan. They're a good mix of Neil Finn's dark, cryptic writing style and the more straight-ahead, almost fluffy pop of something like "Locked Out."

I suppose until the new album comes out I won't have much more to say in this thread. Anyway, for anyone who's been keeping tabs, Crowded House is definitely BACK, as solid as ever, and reinvigorated...there's not a sliver of doubt that their upcoming tour will yield some shows just as special as what's come before. And I do believe the new album will be excellent...

I'm delighted they're going to tour again. I will fight pensioners and trip up little children if it means getting my hands on a ticket. Neil Finn is one of the great songwriters. Can't wait.

OK, I lied...the album's not out yet, but here's some info worth sharing. Crowded House have announced that the new album will be released July 2nd (in the UK at least, no specific announcements for the US as of yet). The tracklisting is as follows:

'Nobody Wants To'
'Don't Stop Now'
'She Called Up'
'Say That Again'
'Pour Le Monde'
'Even A Child'
'Heaven That I'm Making'
'Silent House'
'English Trees'
'Walked Her Way Down'
'Transit Lounge'
'You Are The One to Make Me Cry'
'A Sigh'
'People Are Like Suns'

At first I was a little disappointed at the abundance of vaguely cliched two and three-word titles, but thinking back, most of their previous albums were like that too..."When You Come," "Whispers and Moans," "It's Only Natural," etc. Titles have never been Neil Finn's strong suit, but the songs have always shined regardless.

"Nobody Wants To" is *classic* Crowded House, simple, emotional, perfectly-crafted pop with something profound lurking beneath, in the tradition of "Better Be Home Soon" or similar songs. There are several others I've heard live versions of that are similarly great. The only track I really don't care for at this point is "You Are The One To Make Me Cry." As it's played live, it's a total Burt Bacharach piano man lounge song, and makes me cringe. The album version could change my mind, though.

I still haven't heard about half the songs, but the ones I know offer a good mix of return-to-form classic Crowded House and an exploration of new things; a kind of funky Pink Floyd grandeur on "Transit Lounge," a hard-driving, non-sappy piano ballad with "Pour Le Monde," or the Neil Young-ish Americana of "Silent House" (which was co-written with the Dixie Chicks and was on their Grammy album; from the live version I can already tell Crowded House's version will be much more developed, crafted and exciting, to my ears). Johnny Marr co-wrote and played on "Even A Child," which sounds like a cross between early Wilco--no-frills rootsy rock--and the Smiths, if that makes any sense.

The first single will be "Don't Stop Now," which also features Johnny Marr. It strikes me as kind of serviceable and decent, but not that great, kind of like "Instinct" and "Everything Is Good For You" on the greatest hits album. Not what I would have picked for the lead single, but oh well...again, the album recording could be revelatory.

I'm really looking forward to it, and think at the very least it'll be a worthwhile comeback album...and I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being much more than that, a really superb album.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Commontone,

Here's the album cover...as with the other 6 Crowded House releases, Nick Seymour (CH bassist, also an artist) has created it:

Time On Earth album artwork

Kind of haunting, the lone tree is probably meant to symbolize Paul Hester...

I caught a webcast of their performance at Coachella last night...they had the misfortune of playing to a couple thousand Rage fans, lots of teenagers, many of whom were clearly drunk and belligerent and had no idea who Crowded House were...and probably weren't the types to appreciate their music anyway. There were chants of "Rage! Rage! Rage!" between almost every song, some very rude comments shouted at them, and someone actually threw a water bottle at Neil Finn during "Don't Dream It's Over." It knocked his mic stand to the side and he had to move over and get the crowd to sing for him (amazingly, quite a few actually did) while the mic was fixed.

The band did have a look of, "Jesus, these people don't know us or care, what are we doing here?" though they played very well. Neil battled through it with total class, though he and Nick did send up the Rage fans with a few well-timed remarks ("Why not head over to the tent for another drink? There's still time..yes, there's still time!")

Too bad, though that stuff is pretty typical of festival crowds...before singing the last note of the set Neil just stood there and looked at them all for 30 seconds with a wry smile, taking it all in...and in the end they changed their chant to "Respect! Respect! Respect!"

Commontone, I have enjoyed reading your posts. I have been a massive Crowded House fan for years and years and was thrilled when I heard of the reformation. I saw the band about two weeks ago at the Glass House in Pomona, CA (a warmup gig for Coachella) and they were FANTASTIC! not quite the same vibe as when I saw them back in 1991 on the Woodface Tour (it couldn't possibly be the same without Paul Hester) but just as wonderful, in a different way. they sounded fantastic and had heaps of energy. I hope they keep it going for a long time!

Thanks flandersdog...I'm glad you got to see them already, and I can't wait for my time to come. Though surprisingly, all of North America will only get about 5 weeks worth of the proper "year long" tour (early August-mid Sept.). Unless they're taking a three month break, or playing Japan, Brazil, etc., I'm not sure how they'll fill the rest of the year playing their usual places.

I've heard two tracks from the actual album; they were streamed by the LA radio show "Morning Becomes Eclectic." It's hard to make too many judgements based on a 44kps RealPlayer stream, but they sounded great. "Nobody Wants To" is a little slower and more atmospheric than they've been doing it live. Ethan Johns produced, and the production values seemed similar to Ryan Adams' stuff...tightly performed, sparkling clean sound. As much as the melody screams "Crowded House," the production is really focused and lacks the playfully loose sound of the old stuff. It sounds very nice, just different and new.

"Don't Stop Now" is the first single, and the album version is pretty interesting. Steve Lillywhite produced that one, and unsurprisingly you can hear shades of U2 in it--similar vocal effects as given to Bono, the sound of the drums, etc. The lyrics of the song are kind of throwaway by Neil's usual standards, in my opinion, but it's produced in a kind of stadium-sized Coldplay/U2 style that works really well. It's apparent that Johnny Marr played on it, too..some really nice spaced-out, jangly guitar playing.

Nic Harcourt, the host of the radio show, is a big fan, so hopefully he'll be playing some more tracks over the next few months before the album's released...

I too heard both of those tracks on KCRW (and at the Glass House). I love Nobody Wants To (it sounded even more beautiful live) but am very lukewarm on Don't Stop Now. I wish something else had been chosen as the first single (Nobody Wants To, or She Called Up), as I just don't think Don't Stop Now is going to light the airwaves on fire and I want the Crowdies to have huge success. I hope I am wrong, though, and that it is a ginormous hit!

looking forward to the tour and if they hit the cities I expect they'll hit, I'll see them at least three times (I know for sure they're coming to Seattle, and Vancouver and Portland are easy drives). I hope you get to see a show or five, Commontone...

Here's a link where you can listen to the first single, "Don't Stop Now":

http://www.crowdedhouse.com/audio.php?id=1&format=wma

Sounds fairly radio-friendly, kind of U2-ish; not too deep, but still some intriguing lyrics. It's about Neil Finn's wife getting lost in the English countryside during a thunderstorm when her car's satellite guidance system malfunctions, and him trying to give her directions home over the phone.

Other songs on the album dig a lot deeper, lyrically, than this one, so I'm almost a little disappointed with it. But it's certainly catchy as all get-out and an enjoyable listen..