New longplayers

2 June 2024

New Zealand/Australian beloved popsters CROWDED HOUSE are coming and
going and coming back again (1985–1996, 2006–2011, 2016, 2019–present).

They just released their 8th LP, named GRAVITY STAIRS.

Press info: For more than four decades, Crowded House leader Neil Finn has
been on an evolving, winding journey. Crowded House’s mid-Eighties hits like
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong,” combined with albums like
Woodface and Together Alone, set the standard for the period’s erudite jangle
pop while always pushing the band’s art forward.

That creative spirit brings Finn and his Crowded House bandmates to Gravity Stairs,
their first new release since 2021’s Dreamers Are Waiting. The album shows the band
in its current incarnation — Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, and Finn’s sons Elroy and Liam — as sharp as ever, feeling musically adventurous, and still capable of reaching the staggering highs that have made them an international favorite. It’s the act of climbing those figurative “gravity stairs,” inspired by a heavy stone staircase near where Finn vacations, that he likens to his own mindset as a creator.

TUTV: Crowded House took some years off a couple of times, that’s why only 8 LPs
in 40 years, sounds like they were pretty lazy. But New Zealand-native founder/frontman
Neil Finn kept being busy in between with 5 solo albums.

He’s the band’s heart and soul and songwriting captain, also on this new longplayer
which results (again) in a sonic stream of well-crafted guitar-pop songs that stand together, shoulder to shoulder, making Gravity Stairs a full, zestful accomplishment.

Lively and colorfully melodic, vividly sunlit and titillating, spiced with lots of Beatles/Beach Boys-like harmonies and Finn‘s hearty voice. One more thing, I listened to GS for the first time, about a half hour after I enjoyed MGTM’s new one again. At times the polyphonic and sweet-toned resonance between these 2 records is quite striking. Check it out and entertain your ears.

SINGLE: Oh Hi

ALBUM

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CH: Linktree