Waiting for the thrill to return: Neues von Crowded House

Die australisch-neuseeländische Band Crowded House war im Studio und hat ein neues Album im Kasten. Über Twitter und Mailingliste leakten ganz offiziell schon 11 Songtitel (siehe unten). Völlig Spekulatius ist, dass es im März im Handel sein soll. Eine Tour in UK und Irland ist für Mai angekündigt, was eine Veröffentlichung davor wahrscheinlich macht.

Die Frage »Crowded Who?« ist für Spätgeborene natürlich berechtigt, kennt man aus dem Dudelradio höchstens noch »Weather with you« oder »Don’t dream it’s over«. De facto hat die Band in Australien eines der meistverkauftesten Alben aller Zeiten in den Charts und seit 25 Jahren eine solide Fanbasis, zu der sich auch Leute wie Eddie ‘Pearl Jam’ Vedder, Chris ‘Coldplay’ Martin oder Radioheads Ed O’Brien zählen.

Im Zusammenhang mit der Tourankündigung wurde eine von Sänger Neil Finn handgeklöppelte Bandbio veröffentlicht, die Details zu den aktuellen Songs und Aufnahmen verrät:  

And so the 4 of us Nick Seymour (bass), Mark Hart (keys/guitar), Matt Sherrod (drums) and myself Neil (singer, player) began our new record last year at Roundhead studios in Auckland with Mr Jim Scott as our producer ally. Some of these 11 songs were first played at a little gig north of Auckland The Leigh Sawmill back in Feb 2008. They have been worked over on the road and transformed a few times, some all the way back to square one, it’s a good place to return, from time to time.

That was the case with the song Twice If You’re Lucky, we played an alternative version, more complex and mysterious on tour then deconstructed back to original simple form in the last week of recording. I am inclined to  circle the songs, looking for any bit of advantage I can find, a verse, a chord or a word to change. Its sometimes unsettling for the band but it’s my way and I’m sticking to it.

There’s always a possibility of transformation. It was a wonderful moment when the song Either Side Of The World took off on a Samba groove at last rehearsal. Isolation travelled a twisted pathway too ending up as a hybrid of 2 songs, its folky origins now obscured by some deep tremolo guitar and my wife Sharon’s ethereal singing. Saturday Sun was awash with guitars until mix day when I went to town with a korg microsynth, a gift from a friend that arrived that day.

There were other fine contributors too. Our friend Don McGlashan, helped us lay down tracks adding, percussion, acoustic and horns. Lisa Germano took to Archers Arrows and Even If with her extraordinary violin playing. Jon Brion added layers of sampled voices and mashed up guitar to Twice If You’re Lucky. My son Liam took to Falling Dove and the coda of Isolation with psychedelic guitar. James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia provided manly voices to the Intriguer.

Jim Scott mixed the record back in L.A and we caroused and held up the bar in his very well appointed studio/ den within sight of Magic Mountain. The late evening playbacks at maximum volume are my favourite part of the whole process and Jim mixes an excellent cocktail as well. It’s so important to have a good time making music .

And yes, the tour will follow, from the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Music festival to The Isle of Wight, May/ June theatres in The U.K and Europe, late summer in the U.S and maybe a few far flung cities, new destinations, we could turn up anywhere. The intention is the same as ever to get the people involved, to hit some heights and leave the songs hanging in the air.

This 11 track album is exotic in parts, traditional in origin, through many a twist and turn we fashioned some drama and intrigue. You will find some threads that go back through all that history and some new discoveries as well that will need to be followed up. Its part of the continuum and it may just be the best thing we’ve done till the next one.

Das 2007er Reunion-Album »Time on Earth« war in weiten Teilen Selbstfindungsprozess und Trauerarbeit nach dem Freitod des Gründungsmitglieds und Schlagzeugs Paul Hester 2005, der die Band überhaupt wieder zusammen brachte. Es kam kaum an die vorherigen Soloarbeiten von Neil Finn und schon gar nicht an die klassischen CH-Alben vor 1996 heran. Live sind sie nach wie vor großartig, hab sie 2008 in Hamburg gesehen und Neil Finn solo 2001 in Köln. Umso gespannter auf das neue Album.

Die 11 Songs des neuen Albums:

Archer’s Arrows
Saturday Sun
Amsterdam
Either Side of the World
Falling Dove
Isolation
Intriguer
Twice If You’re Lucky
Even If
Inside Out
Elephants

Einige davon kursieren als Rohbau von Live-Takes seit längerem auf Youtube. Hier ist einer davon:

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