This is one that has been out for a while, but I finally got around to buying it recently, ahead of our delayed trip to London to see them live next month.
First of all, a slight confession. This is the first Crowded House album that I haven't rushed out to buy in the first hours, or at least days, that it was released. The thing is, I had heard the singles and they hadn't set me aflame. This is almost unheard of. In the 34 years since I first fell under Neil Finn's spell (1988's Temple of Low Men), I have never failed to be moved and enthralled by his records.
Having said all that, if you are now expecting me to dislike Dreamers Are Waiting, you will be sorely disappointed. That is the reason why you never review anything on first listen - because by listen two and three, the album is growing on you.
We start in gentle fashion, with Bad Times Good, which could be said to have a 'classic' Crowdies sound, as it rolls along on a rotating guitar riff. Playing With Fire is a little more bright and spiky, introducing some jaunty horns on the chorus - it could almost be the Divine Comedy.
Then we get To The Island, perhaps the best known track on the album. It is a whimsical little number with a simple melody and some gorgeous layers of vocals. The middle 8 has a definite Beach Boys vibe to it - all in all, a delightful track that grows and grows with its deceptive simplicity.
Sweet Tooth - a successor to Chocolate Cake? I jest, of course, and this never quite reaches the heights of its sugary predecessor. Whatever You Want brings some urgency to proceedings and a relevant political message, which while it might have been written for one particular right wing charlatan, could equally work for another one in 2022;
'This is not right, this man is a fake, they will follow him down to the edge of the cliff, and if he tells them to jump, they jump right in.'
Show Me The Way meanders gently along, belying some darker lyrics - 'The smokers came through the sugar cane with the burning cross.'
Side 2 starts with the delightful Goodnight Everyone, propelled along with rolling drums and bass and rises through swirly keyboards to its majestic chorus. Too Good For This World, has a staccato rhythm, xylophone type sounds and slightly off-hand vocal delivery.
Start Of Something carries a slight country twang and builds to a glorious refrain, underpinned with a delightfully picked guitar motif. The song most definitely soars and is perhaps my standout track.
By Love Isn't Hard At All, we have a bit of that South Pacific sound at the start, before the drums start skittering along, on the way to its celebratory chorus. Dare I say it, Neil is sounding a little bit like Split Enz era Tim here at times. Then there is the shuffle of Deeper Down, with its orchestral swoops and sharpish vocals, and that brings us to a close.
As I mentioned at the start, the album was a grower for me. As ever with a Crowded House record, you get something that is carefully arranged, with excellent lyrics and exquisite layers of vocals. Some people will miss an obvious singalong (Weather With You) or all-out rocker (Locked Out), but this does have the relaxed feel that you think an album largely made by a family band, should.
In the end, my only criticism might be that there is a slight lack of variation in pace. Nonetheless, that judging comes from a ridiculously high bar - there are hundreds of songwriters who would give an appendage to have an album like this. It won't leap into my top three Finn works, yet. But as I listen to it more - who knows.
Notes:
Recorded at Valentine Studios + home studios in LA and Ireland
Produced by Crowded House
Released on 4 June 2021 on EMI Australia
Crowded House are: Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Liam Finn, Elroy Finn and Mitchell Froom.
Score:
A slowly soaring 8.0 / 10