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| From | "Jennifer Leduc" <jenleduc@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Crowded House return |
| Date | Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:47:13 -0600 |
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Article from LA Times
Crowded House stands out in the Coachella crowd
"I just wanted to be in a band again," says lead singer Neil Finn.
By Randy Lewis
Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2007
There's "Something So Strong" about New Zealand rock band Crowded House
after all: The group that disbanded a decade ago is re-forming for a new
album and tour that will begin at this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts
Festival.
While most of the headlines regarding the latest Coachella talent lineup
announced Monday focused on the one-night-only reunion of rock-rap group
Rage Against the Machine, fans have been buzzing worldwide about the
resurrection of Crowded House.
After charting hits with Crowded House in the late '80s and '90s, including
"Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong," the group's lead singer
and chief songwriter Neil Finn decided to retire the band so he could
concentrate on a solo career and on sibling projects with his brother Tim
Finn, who also joined Crowded House briefly. Both had previously been
members of Australia's Split Enz, which did a reunion tour in 2006.
But after the suicide of Crowded House drummer Paul Hester in 2004, Finn
says he slowly came to the realization that "I just wanted to be in a band
again. And what other band could it be, really?"
Speaking from Auckland, New Zealand, where he's been finishing the new album
with bassist Nick Seymour, Finn told The Times today that he and Seymour
came together again after Hester's death, and last year began working on new
songs. They also spent time revisiting the band's past for "Farewell to the
World," a 10th anniversary expanded DVD release of the film of their final
concert at the Sydney Opera House, which came out earlier this month.
"It just feels like something good and true," Finn said. "We sought each
other out in the shadow of Paul's passing. That helped us reconnect and gave
me a reminder of what bands are and what they bring, with the sharing of the
load between everybody, and the humor of not being the only guy at
interviews and photo shoots. It all started to feel very natural to me."
The new album, due in the spring, will be called "Time on Earth," signaling
the fleeting nature of life, a theme that came into sharp focus for Finn and
Seymour with the loss of Hester.
"In ways I can't really elaborate on, Paul's presence looms large on the
record," Finn said. "I didn't want to make a record that was wallowing in
anything.... We were moved to write and to do things that remembered him to
some degree, to acknowledge what happened. It affected us both very deeply
and it still resonates very strongly. I dream about him a lot, and it will
always to some degree haunt me. But ultimately it's an act of free will and
choice, and you have to recognize that too."
Keyboardist Mark Hart, who toured and recorded with Crowded House, also will
be taking part in the reunion tour, but Finn said there were no plans for
his older brother, who has a solo album due soon, to join in. He and Seymour
have been holding auditions in New Zealand and Australia and will continue
the search for a new drummer with additional tryouts in Los Angeles in the
next couple of weeks.
"It's pointless trying to find another Paul, because there isn't another
Paul," he said. "It will be different, but hopefully it will be something
that can grow and develop.... I'm very concerned that we do this properly so
that it becomes a real band, and not just a brand."
Acknowledging rampant skepticism about the ever-rising tide of band
reunions, Finn said, "There are people who may choose to see it in cynical
ways, and I can't blame anybody — they can look at it any way they want. I
know what drives me, and I'm not doing it for the money. I've done very well
and I've got a really great, loyal and significant community of people who
follow what I do as solo artist, with the Finn Brothers, and this is very
exciting and has got me very fired up."
_________________________________________________________________
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