April 2003
H.E.A.R.honors Neil Finn
Neil Finn's reputation as one of New Zealand's leading songwriters
was confirmed when he was awarded an OBE in 1993, in recognition
of his work with Split Enz and Crowded House. Following the
latter band's emotional farewell performance in Sydney on
24 November 1996, Finn set about recording his debut solo
outing for Parlophone Records.
The presence of producers Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck,
Natalie Imbruglia) and Marius De Vries (Bjork, Madonna) added
a richer atmosphere to Finn's tuneful pop melodies. Despite
living in the UK and having to contribute his mixes by ISDN,
Godrich added weight to the album's stand-out tracks, "Sinner"
and "Twisty Bass".
De Fries joined Finn in New Zealand to add his peculiar
variety of computer wizardry to the sessions. Guest musicians
on the album included guitarist Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil),
bass player Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing) and producer
Mitchell Froom, with Finn's son contributing drums to two
tracks.
The Crowded House soundalike, "She Will Have Her Way", dented
the UK charts at number 26 in June 1998. The album enjoyed
more commercial success, entering the UK chart at number 5
the same month, but follow-up singles failed to trouble the
charts. Future commercial success on the level of Crowded
House seems unlikely, but Finn is able to enjoy the fruits
of his previous labours and is more concerned now about writing
credible music. He has survived his brush with the pop charts
with honour, as the experimental One Nil demonstrates. www.nilfun.com
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