One
thing Neil Finn no longer has to prove. He's one of the finest songwriters
in the world. Some years ago when Paul McCartney arrived in Melbourne
he requested an audience with Neil. Neil is now in the third clearly
defined phase of his career. He grew up in Split Enz, surrounded
by brother Tim's contemporaries. Crowded House was a group of his
own creation. He dominated them, but gained some comfort in being
able to step back into their assembled identity as a stage act.
Whether it was done purposefully or a self-fulfilling prophecy Neil
called his first solo album 'Try Whistling This'. It wasn't as readily
accessible as his past work and didn't generate the usual 'hits'.
That out of his system, he returns with 'Nil One', by no means a
retreat from the ground he broke musically with the last album,
but an album littered with 'those' songs and 'that' voice. Having
won his 'freedom' Nil resists surrounding himself with the kitchen
sink. Arrangements are deceptively simple, often sparce, but he
takes the songs into musical corners unimaginable on a Crowded House
album. At times he delves into Radiohead-like territory, his lilting
vocals over a is-it-played?/is-it-computer-made? landscape. This
is the side of his music that Neil started to add to his armoury
towards the end of Crowded House. This adventurism. These songs
that go on a musical journey. We know he can write a great song,
that he can sing. He wants more, more than songs for us to sing
along to. Those are here too. Some obviously, at first listen, others
need a little bit more time to take in. The trademark Neil Finn
melancholy is never far away. In the end 'One Nil' is the album
which justifies Neil walking away from Crowded House. He's in a
new place musically, and it is very listenable and satisfying.
One
thing Neil Finn no longer has to prove. He's one of the finest songwriters
in the world. Some years ago when Paul McCartney arrived in Melbourne
he requested an audience with Neil. Neil is now in the third clearly
defined phase of his career. He grew up in Split Enz, surrounded
by brother Tim's contemporaries. Crowded House was a group of his
own creation. He dominated them, but gained some comfort in being
able to step back into their assembled identity as a stage act.
Whether it was done purposefully or a self-fulfilling prophecy Neil
called his first solo album 'Try Whistling This'. It wasn't as readily
accessible as his past work and didn't generate the usual 'hits'.
That out of his system, he returns with 'Nil One', by no means a
retreat from the ground he broke musically with the last album,
but an album littered with 'those' songs and 'that' voice. Having
won his 'freedom' Nil resists surrounding himself with the kitchen
sink. Arrangements are deceptively simple, often sparce, but he
takes the songs into musical corners unimaginable on a Crowded House
album. At times he delves into Radiohead-like territory, his lilting
vocals over a is-it-played?/is-it-computer-made? landscape. This
is the side of his music that Neil started to add to his armoury
towards the end of Crowded House. This adventurism. These songs
that go on a musical journey. We know he can write a great song,
that he can sing. He wants more, more than songs for us to sing
along to. Those are here too. Some obviously, at first listen, others
need a little bit more time to take in. The trademark Neil Finn
melancholy is never far away. In the end 'One Nil' is the album
which justifies Neil walking away from Crowded House. He's in a
new place musically, and it is very listenable and satisfying.