CROWDED HOUSE - INTRIGUER

CROWDED HOUSE - Intriguer

Neil Finn as a quality songwriter has never been in doubt though perhaps his ability to sell his genius and thus product has been what has let him down. Like a golfer with a great swing who never wins a major is a good analogy perhaps, though of course Woodface did its best to make Crowded House a household (sorry!) name! That that album was a collaboration with his brother Tim was telling and perhaps it was proven that both were better as a partnership than on their own when The Finn Brothers Everyone Is Here was both artist’s second best work. Intriguer is a full Crowded House project unlike the last in that name, the plodding and dissatisfying comeback record Time On Earth. There is no sign of Tim and yet it’s up there with the two aforementioned.

All the melodies are there, catchy as The Beatles and sometimes as in Falling Dove sounding like them. The songs are crafted and the lyrics original and substantial. What makes Intriguer stand out is the arrangements, the grittier surface and lack of predictability with every song being trademarked but with individual personalities. The electric jangle and driven beat of the single Saturday’s Sun that would have been a hit had singles still be an important commercial product. Isolation with its Lennon title and Harrison guitar intro heads out towards a Moody Blues lyric and mood about the meaning of life before a Woodstock era electric guitar freak out in the fade out. His son and wife throw in a few different vocal shades throughout.

I did say that Finn’s songs were consistently substantial with fascinating images and usually some depth to the meaning. Intriguer is supposedly his study of God and, though Slow Train Coming it is not, it does deal with life’s bigger questions. Philosophy and mystery both get name checked in Twice If You’re Lucky which I’d choose as the second single to radio. The temptations and lostness of our humanity nestles and wrestles beside the transcendent hope of redemption. As Amsterdam puts it, “The darkest days of a free man lying in the streets of Amsterdam I nearly fell underneath a tram but I picked myself up/Every temptation and device, All the diamonds and the spice I would give anything for the sight of an honest man.” Falling Dove prays for some blessing, “May the best of fortune bless you/could any creature be unmoved/the humble nature of redemption/the simple act of finding a use.” I particularly love this last couplet gathering together our redemption and vocation in the same couplet.

The closest we get to some doctrinal definition of Finn’s Intrguer is in that opening single Saturday Sun where  “As he calls out your name/
on a hill far away/ravens circle above/it’s all about to change” sounds very close to the Easter part of the Christian story. God only knows, to quote Brian Wilson, but whatever is going on in these catchy melodies and provocative lyrics there will be much to ponder as you enjoy the most blessed Crowded House album in a very long time.

Comments

[Mullane]

Sharon Finn sang a few on the 7 Worlds album too. I am not sure about the album and have given it several listens. I think your last paragraph on doctrinal content also defines the best part of the album, the change on melody during this line is classic CH the rest I don't really recognise.

If you want to hear Neil at his best check out the soundtrack for Rain (2000) a New Zealand film.

[mariola]

Hi there!

I must say I am impressed with your review. It is a best overview I have ever read about Intriguer, and I read almost every review on site. Your sentence "Intriguer is supposedly his study of God" is excacly what I feel about this Intriguer and what makes it so lovely and transcendental in my eyes and heart. Always glad to see that someone look from same view as I do.

Love and peace,

Mariola