WERS 88.9 fm - album review: crowded house - intriguer

By Samira Winter
7.18.10

Most of us have hummed, at one time or another, the classic eighties tune "Don't Dream Its Over" by Crowded House. Now, more than twenty years later, the primarily Australian band is back to playing their easygoing pop/rock tunes. After fourteen years without a studio recording, Crowded House return with their latest, Intriguer.

The album was produced by Jim Scott (Wilco), and the project refreshingly reunites the original band members Neil Finn (singer/guitarist), Nick Seymour (bassist), and Mark Hart (keyboardist/guitarist). The main songwriter, Finn, says "This eleven track album is exotic in parts, traditional in origin, through many a twist and turn we fashioned some drama and intrigue."

The first song, "Saturday Sun," reflects the album's combination of musical styles.  The band manages to bring colors of eighties rock—especially with the keyboard synthesizer—and shades of modern pop. With its upbeat melodies and rocking drums and guitar, the vocalist sings about revelations and turning darkness to light. The song cleverly matches inspiring lyrics with uplifting chords.

While "Saturday Sun" shines with motivation, "Amsterdam" evokes sorrow. The beat is much slower, and the bass and drums work together creating a mellow tempo. The guitar solos cry along with the lyrics,"the darkest days of a free man, lying in the streets of Amsterdam, I nearly fell underneath a tram." Themes include poverty, politics, and mistakes—nevertheless, it's a beautiful song.

The artwork on Intriguerhas a collage look, and contrasts darker shades of red, green, and brown with white, blue and orange. The cover is an illustration of a brown cat with his eyes closed, the title on his forehead. The big question seems to be who is the "Intriguer"? The only way to find the answer is by listening to the album yourself.

Overall, Intriguer is the kind of album where each song has its own story. The lyrics and instruments work together to take listeners on a journey. As Finn says, "You will find some threads that go back through all that history and some new discoveries as well that will need to be followed up. It's part of the continuum and it may just be the best thing we've done …till the next one."