Finnatic fans find fresh Finn fan-tastic!
© Anne-Marie de Bruin
Neil's album has been well received by virtually all the critics who have had it pass over their review desk. And, for fans who have heard the songs on the radio or through an advance CD copy gained from music industry connections, the general reaction is similarly positive.
Helen Lilley, for instance, loves the album - even if it did take her a while to get used to the new sound: "I kept listening to it, and after about five listens songs that I originally didn't like that much were sticking in my head. I found that Try Whistling This is the very best album I have heard in a long time. Like Crowded House's Together Alone, album it just took a few listens to get into."
For another fan, who can only be named as "Squid," the new direction Neil has been taking through the use of technology is very encouraging - even if it was surprising. "My first impressions of Try Whistling This were that it was extremely sparse. What I later realised was that Neil's economy with his traditional style of production was intentional: it was allowing him to break down old patterns and infuse some *gasp* technology into his sound."
The "typical Neil style" that Squid talks about would seem to be the approach taken by Crowded House on their first three albums. Crowded House, Temple of Low Men and Woodface are all records that are rich in pop sensibility. From the ballads to the rockers, Neil's songwriting was firmly ensconced in the tradition of the beautiful pop song that was perfected by the Beatles.
While the Beatle comparison is something that Neil is always subject to and understandably gets sick of, there seems to be no other appropriate parallel. Lennon and McCartney were great songwriters and, in the eyes of music fans and critics around the world, Neil is right up there with them.
While the first three albums of Crowded House were produced by Mitchell Froom (well known for his work with Suzanne Vega, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos and even Paul McCartney himself), the fourth album was produced by well-known dance producer and Killing Joke man, Youth. Therefore, the resulting album, 1993's Together Alone, would turn out to be a startling change of direction for Neil and his band. Recorded at New Zealand's Kare Kare Beach, it is an epic voyage of wild surf guitars and spooky Pacific Island log drums, which is all topped off with the masterful keyboard effects of band member Mark Hart.
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