We're Just Paper Over Cracks
4 Out of 5 Stars
When Crowded House member Paul Hester committed suicide in 2005, Neil Finn reacted by recording "Time On Earth" with the surviving CH members. That album was a heavy rumination on the loss of a life-long friend and creative partner, and was a tough album to absorb. One of Crowded Houses's best attributes was that they were a terrific band, with a sense of camaraderie and often (despite some serious songs, like "Better Be Home Soon" or "Four Seasons in One Day) the sounds of good mates getting together for a good joke or two.
This was always reflected in their videos and even in the odd comic song ("Chocolate Cake," "Here Comes God"). "Intriguer" is less weighty than "Time On Earth" yet still feels haunted by Hester's ghost. Neil Finn's songwriting remains top-notch, with brilliant moments on "Intriguer" measuring up as should-be hits like "Even If" or the giddy in love "Twice If You're Lucky." There's a nice propelling beat and synth-line to the opening "Saturday Sun" that hearkens back to Finn's days with Split Enz (and seems most indebted to Hester's passing).
"The madness is won, The nightmare is done.
Meantime, he waits
Colors up the sky,
Make the darkness come to life.
Memories inside his heart
Of everything he wants to know
And every place he has to go."
There's plenty of other delightful songs and temptingly quotable lyrics all across the album ("Amsterdam," the atmospheric "Isolation") that will lure CH's many fans to this CD. I've been an Enz/House fan myself for many years, including seeing the band on the "Woodface" tour (with Roger McGuinn showing up for the encore!). "Intriguer" lives up to Neil Finn's continuing legacy of excellent albums.
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