Crowded House’s Neil Finn on How a Stint With Fleetwood Mac Led to Revitalizing His Own Band: ‘I Realized That We Had a Flag That You Can Follow’

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The void that Crowded House left in the periods of time that the group disbanded a couple of times over the years didn’t exactly get filled in by a lot of other bands with equal facilities for melody, mystery and tightness.

Frontman Neil Finn didn’t give up his gift for those things when he was making solo or duo projects in the band’s dormant periods, but something about the Crowded House banner — as well as the constituency of the band itself — lends a focus that leads fans to expect, and get, something so strong.

That strength is renewed in “Gravity Stairs,” which is only the eighth album Crowded House has released in the 38 years since their self-titled debut set a benchmark for ruminative 1980s rock.

The new album is the second Finn has made with a lineup that includes original bassist Nick Seymour (the other founding member of the classic lineup, Paul Hester, died in 2005), plus Neil’s sons Liam and Elroy on guitar and drums, respectively, and Crowded House’s original producer, Mitchell Froom, finally drafted as a permanent member.