KEY POINTS:
It's possible Neil Finn is showing off. On a wintry Wednesday night he has opened his new Roundhead recording studio to invited Auckland media and blasts the new Crowded House album, Time On Earth, at ear-splitting volume from a couple of powerful speakers.
It's like show and tell.
Roundhead is impressive. There's a regal Steinway grand piano and the ruby-red velvet curtains and shiny wooden interior give the space a warm and homely atmosphere compared to the often sterile surroundings of other studios.
But Finn is most proud of the Neve recording desk, from Bearsville Studios in upstate New York. The desk even has a stain from a cigarette burn, courtesy of Keith Moon from the Who.
The majority of Time On Earth was recorded upstairs from this studio while it was being built - "in and around drills and hammering and stuff," says Finn.
After weathering the storm surrounding his comments about the local music industry and remarks about Helen Clark, the British-based Finn is all smiles and back in Auckland to focus on the release of the album. The band is also heading on tour for the remainder of the year and is likely to reach New Zealand in November.
Time On Earth is the first album of new Crowded House songs since 1993's Together Alone, and includes tracks like People Are Like Suns and Heaven That I'm Making, some of the first songs Finn and bass player Nick Seymour recorded together when the idea of reforming the band became a reality in 2005.
Elsewhere are sprinklings of Finn's trademark breezy pop, like She Called Up, with dinky keyboard trills and a few "la-la-la" moments, and first single Don't Stop Now, which Finn wrote with Johnny Marr, the former Smiths member who was part of the supergroup Finn gathered for a series of Auckland concerts in 2001.
"Those songs are more outgoing, which I love, because I love that part of what Crowded House used to do, which was push out good tunes and have a great effervescent atmosphere," says Finn after the listening session.
There's also brooding moments, like the band's eerie take on the Dixie Chicks' song Silent House, a track Finn co-wrote with the country pop group.
"There's possibly echoes of other records, maybe Together Alone, in that I think that album had a dense atmosphere to it at times, which was not all sweetness and light and pop, whereas Woodface was maybe a little more apparent and on the surface.
"But as an album it's hard to get a perspective on how [Time On Earth] fits with the others. I know it feels like a really good Crowded House album but I don't know what it's reminiscent of. It's a pretty mixed bag," he says, looking chuffed.
Three weeks earlier Finn and Seymour are at the Viceroy Hotel in Palm Springs, California, on the day of the band's performance at the Coachella Festival. It's their first big gig with new drummer Matt Sherrod, and guitarist Mark Hart, who was in Crowded House from 1992 until they split in 1996.
Finn and Seymour are excited to be back together and with this comes a mix of happy and sad memories. "It was in the ether that we would play together again," says Finn.
There were whispers between the former bandmates about a reunion before Crowded House drummer Paul Hester died in 2005.
At the end of 2004, Hester joined Neil and Tim Finn on stage at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne. Also that year the Finns played with Seymour in Belfast.
"In both cases we really had a good time hanging out," says Finn.
"There was a growing feeling that maybe there was more to be had and he [Hester] was in a good state of mind then," says Finn of the gig in Melbourne.
Sadly, a few months later, Hester committed suicide.
At the time, the Finn brothers were on tour in Britain and decided not to cancel their shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They asked Seymour to come over from Ireland and join them for the gig.
"It felt like we could do with being together through that period and we went to Melbourne together for his memorial," says Finn.
After another show at the Homebake Festival in Sydney, where Seymour again joined the brothers, they ended up back in New Zealand playing music together. As Finn remembers it: "The surf was great at Piha, Nick was in happy mode, and the music was sounding good."
And the Crowded House reunion evolved from there.
Early in the recording process Finn and Seymour worked with a handful of drummers, including Riki Gooch, formerly of TrinityRoots, and nine of the album's 14 tracks were produced by Ethan Johns, who has worked with the Kings of Leon and Ryan Adams.
"It was a moveable feast for a while," says Seymour, "but eventually we realised that why not think of this as a Crowded House release."
At that point they started auditioning for a full-time drummer and had more than 1000 inquiries, including a guy who sent in a video from when he played with a cellist and harpsichordist at Dodgers stadium. ("It was a brilliant-looking line-up but it looked as though it was from the 15th century," laughs Finn.)
They did auditions in five cities with 50 potential drummers, including many who swatted up the fine art of playing the brushes on Four Seasons In One Day as Hester did.
But Finn says they were not looking for someone to recreate Hester's playing and Sherrod - Beck's drummer - fit the bill. "He just played things like he'd never heard the songs before, because he hadn't, and something about that was very liberating. We thought if there's going to be a future to the band, and not just the past, then he's our man."
With Sherrod on board and Hart back in the fold they recorded another four songs, including Don't Stop Now, in London, with mega-producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Pogues, Chris Cornell).
"And the energy level of that session totally nailed it. We just knew then we were a band," says Seymour.
"It was a very back-to-front process but very much in a Crowded House fashion because we always did either backwards or bumbling along. It was always like that anyway," continues Finn.
Hester's presence is strong on the album, too. "There's quite a lot of stuff that's come as a result of all of that," says Finn. "But I think in most cases I've made songs follow a couple of different threads, I guess to not reveal too much but also to try to describe the mixture of feelings that it brings up.
"I think there's a lot of him in the record but it informs a lot of different songs, sometimes in a subtle way and sometimes more directly. English Trees relates to the day I heard; A Sigh is a note of resignation and deep sadness; and People Are Like Suns is a contemplation on the very flash of our lives."
You sense Finn has Hester in mind when he reflects on how music is more precious to him now than ever. "It marks your life out. Apart from the love of two people, which is beyond all, I love it."
Lowdown
Who: Crowded House
Current line-up: Neil Finn (guitar/vocals); Nick Seymour (bass/vocals); Mark Hart (guitars); Matt Sherrod (drums/vocals)
New album: Time On Earth, out July 2.
Past albums: Crowded House (1986); Temple of Low Men (1988); Woodface (1991); Together Alone (1993).