Send "Crowded House " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Today’s young rock stars can only hope their careers last as long and turn out as idyllic as Neil Finn’s has. For more than 30 years, Finn has been turning out charming, often brilliant thinking-person’s pop. His two bands, Split Enz and Crowded House, have been successful enough to keep money in the bank, but not huge enough to invite destructive excess. He’s also released solo albums and collaborated with his brother Tim on a pair. He’s quietly become something of an elder statesman, and everyone from Cheryl Crow to Eddie Vedder, from Johnny Marr to Radiohead, has lined up to pay tribute and collaborate.Of course, not everything has been milk and honey. Crowded House’s career was not without its share of strife, not least when Tim Finn joined the band for a spell. Drummer Paul Hester quit in 1994, and Neil Finn imploded the band shortly thereafter. Hester committed suicide in 2005, and that was the catalyst for Finn’s reforming Crowded House. He converted an in-progress solo album into 2007’s well-received Time on Earth. Now, Finn, still living in his native New Zealand with his family, has made Intriguer on much surer footing, with a revitalized band and contributions from friends, his wife, and one of his two sons, a successful recording artist in his own right. Rock ’n’ roll stories are supposed to snatch tragedy from the hands of the good life, not the other way around. Maybe Finn’s stability and contentment has informed the sound of Intriguer, a mature, thoughtful, and mostly mellow album. Most likely, though, it’s that Finn is no longer satisfied with writing sharp, easily-accessible pop songs. Not that he can’t do it, as a track like “She Called Up” from Time on Earth made clear. He is simply more interested in taking that pop underpinning to more sophisticated, less familiar places. Usually for an artist in their 50s, that’s code for labored, middle-of-the-road dross that’s not much fun to listen to. Indeed, you could be forgiven for forming that type of first impression of Intriguer. The lead single, “Saturday Sun”, doesn’t sound much like a single at all, a tense, opaque mass of guitars, keyboards, and vocoder through which no chorus makes its way. It’s followed by a string of songs that are slow and well-measured. Most of the verses are more catchy than the choruses....full text |
| Bbc |
| Intriguer is Crowded House’s second album since the suicide of drummer and co-founder Paul Hester in 2005 (and their sixth overall), and follows 2007’s well-received comeback LP Time On Earth. Prior to that record’s release, 13 years had passed since the band’s fourth studio set, 1993’s Together Alone. This set improves upon Time On Earth, too – it’s more of a band effort, whereas its predecessor was originally intended as a Neil Finn solo offering. It doesn't mess with the Crowded House formula, although those hoping for the instantly gratifying melodies of catalogue classics like Weather With You will have to dig a little deeper. But this is no bad thing, and singer-songwriter Finn claims to have experimented with new sounds here. Though the album doesn't overwhelm with adventurousness, scattered female harmonies provide relief and the vocoder on lead single Saturday Sun proves a ghostly and effective touch. Hester's absence still hangs over the band – if not explicitly, then in spirit – as Intriguer continues the sombre mood of its predecessor. The lyrical, Paul Simon-esque folk of Falling Dove is one such example, while the haunting duet of Isolation shyly embraces electronics without sounding forced....full text |
| Thelineofbestfit |
| I have a confession to make: I love Neil Finn. I’m not sure the feeling is reciprocated, but I believe Finn to be one of the best songwriters of his generation. His vastly underrated solo albums, plus the work with his brother Tim on 1995′s Finn, are often overlooked. His main outlet before and since their reformation, Crowded House, is often maligned. The band seem to have an image of being dour, boring and unexciting. In my opinion, nothing can be further from the truth. Quite often, their slightly off-kilter hooks, riffs and rhythms ensure they come up with something quite the opposite. The band returned in 2007 with a new drummer after Paul Hester’s death in 2005, and disappointed with the subsequent release, the rather one-paced Time On Earth. However, things are back on track with Intriguer which, unlike their previous effort, is a proper band record – crafted during sessions together, rather than Finn adapting work he’d written as a solo album. The album kicks off with the jaunty hooks of lead single ‘Saturday Sun’. A perfect example of Finn and Crowded House at their finest – the slightly menacing rhythm and intro breaks free like the “clouds blown away” of the chorus, revealing the delicate guitar riff at its centre and Finn’s perfect vocal delivery. ‘Archers Arrows’ is a sparse, revolving ballad that barely holds together around the delicate keyboards that twinkle lightly. It feels as though the rest of the band have to rush in to stop it from falling down. The piano refrain ticks all the “grand” pop boxes and see-saws between this and its delicate underpinnings. ‘Amsterdam’ continues with another ballad, letting the pace drop slightly and feels, ultimately a little bit “by the numbers”. Which might be the point, as it seems to be lamenting the chores of touring and viewing foreign cities as an outsider. Don’t worry though, the Spring-lamb jostling of ‘Either Side of The World’ comes to the rescue. Its optimistic and joyous refrain sings the virtues of time, space and love. A love song for travelling couples that only seem to meet occasionally and with limited time....full text |
Crowded House lyrics
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