Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

Well Ive only just gotten excited for the album after the 2 singles have finally grown on me so the strategy is working for me., at least!
1 month to go?.... Such antici.....Pation!

 

I'm one of those sad types who prefers to get to know each song at the same time. I don't want to be bored of songs before the album's actually come out

 

yeah, I've barely listened to the singles. I will listen the album plenty when it comes out.

 

Same. Hearing tracks before the whole album is released has never worked well for me. I like to listen to the whole thing.

 

Same for me but I can't help myself

 

Not listening to the singles either, really excited about the new album. I've been spinning Dreamers are Waiting lately, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a great album. Took a while to grow on me, but I love every track and I now think it's one of Neil's/CH's best.

 

The singles were released around the same time as tour announcements. The album will come out around tour time.

 

I agree, especially the streaming version. There are a lot of little bits of interlude that connect the songs better. I heard DAW on an Air NZ flight and those interludes stood out.

 

I guess my feeling is that tour dates have been released - and the name of the album. You pretty much have to put singles out there to help trial the sound of the album. CH seem to have done a bunch of publicity for the album and the tour and I think this long approach is probably the most sustainable for a band that has an incredible extensive discography and is obviously appealing to a very different demographic than say Taylor Swift, or any youth oriented artist.

So far I've liked the 2 singles and look forward to when the album is released (pre-ordered at my local record store). Also looking forward to the concert. So I guess their marketing is working on me at least!

 

Many thanks Jaffaman for that clarification. I thought that was the timing but wasn't sure.

I note @StefanWq has asked the question about European dates, any hint of that?

 

There I was, musing about some subtle and sophisticated marketing plan, and it was as simple as that. More fool me.

 

Here’s what I can say about that.

 

I'm kinda waiting for that to happen to me. I don't mean that in a bad sense. I recall my reaction to Nobody Wants To from Time on Earth. Right from the start I thought it was a really nice, pleasant tune. Nothing earth shattering but good nevertheless. And that's how it was for several years until one day it came on during an iPod shuffle and it just hit me how good it was and how much I liked it. And from then on, it's been a top, top tune for me. And I sort of feel as though that's kind of coming for some of the songs on Dreamers Are Waiting. Most specifically, Bad Times Good and Start of Something. At the moment, they're still in that "good" category but I've always had the sense that one day they'll really click in a big way. It's perhaps worth noting that Goodnight Everyone hit that spot right from the beginning. I love that song. Perhaps Liam's finest.

 

For me, Dreamers is a grower album. However, it’s marred down by some plodding songs.

Close to half of the album are songs that when I heard it, I kept expecting for a blow-up, a rise at the final part of the songs. But it never came. It just kept plodding to the end of the song.

I never shied away from my love for upbeat music, especially in this thread. With that in mind, the highlights for me are the more upbeat, in your face tracks like Playing With Fire, Sweet Tooth and Love Isn’t Hard At All (the Elroy track, very majestic and great harmonies) (remember my passionate defense of Elroy?)

However, I was also enamored with Bad Times Good, To The Island, Goodnight Everyone and Start of Something. For me, these are tracks that have a great buildup and release by the end of the song.

Re: Nobody Wants To. I love that track from the start. It surprised me that very few people played on that track. It's a simple but heart-rending folk pop-rock song.

 

This song's drumming reminds me of That Thing You Do! (the song from the film). The drumming is busy but it propels the song forwards. There's no way traditional drumming fits this one during rehearsal.

I remembered an Entertainment Weekly interview about this album. I will quote it down here:

“The unique instrumentation on Dreamers, like the percussion pattern on "Love Isn't Hard at All," stems partly from Finn's sons, Elroy and Liam. Notes Finn, "Elroy's got a lot of songs he's working on, and I said, 'Have you got anything real upbeat? Because that would be kind of handy for the record and help us get into it.' "Elroy sent a couple musical ideas, including one simply tiled "Upbeat for Dad," which remained the song's name until the record was nearly complete. "I sort of got involved and helped him with a couple of the parts, but it's very much Elroy's music, and the rhythm, obviously, it's his drumbeat. It's really lively, and it kind of has a giddy feeling to it, which I love."

If Neil was having trouble coming up with upbeat songs, imagine how sleepy Dreamers will be without the poppier songs I mentioned above.

 

It’s nearly three years later, I encourage you to give Everyone Is Here another try while we count down the days until the new Crowded House album arrives.

 

Somehow it escaped my attention that Liam had released another song on April 4th.

Today's song is "Purple Dress", written by Liam Finn.


I'll tally up ratings on Sunday.

 

He's a busy chap...

 

Purple Dress

It starts out kind of plodding, but it fills in nicely with guitar and piano, and I'm totally sold at some point. The whole thing has a really great sound and slow groove, and Liam sings this very well.

4.25/5

 

That could be a quote from Juke Box Jury in the 60s.

 

I'm glad you like. My first impression was almost the exact opposite! I really liked the intro and had high hopes until the first verse happened. I'll give it a few more listens but yeah, would make a nice instrumental

 

Liam will never be my favorite singer, but I think he's getting better, and is fine here. His voice is definitely not the draw for me here, but it doesn’t grate. I still think his biggest talent is arranging and producing.

 

Purple Dress

This songs serves as a reminder that Liam can write great and beautiful pop songs. All the elements in the song blend well without overwhelming one another.

This could be on DAW. Sonically it reminds me of Real Life Woman, but more interesting. I think this could easily replace Real Life Woman, but I think Neil doesn't want too many Liam tracks.

It also harkens back to I'll Be Lighting. For me, this song reflects well Liam's evolution.

However, I deducted some points as the bridge doesn't sonically and lyrically match the rest for me.

4.5/5

 

Purple Dress
I like the vibe of this song - deceptively simple sounding, but the melody insinuates. I like the slinky, late night feeling of the song. Extremely cool. Not sure I like the bridge much, although it does what it needs to, adds some higher notes to add interest to the song - and actually it is a good move to have those keyed sounds move through the back part of the song. They remind me a little of starlight (again, more night feelings here).

I'm not much of a fan of Liam's vocal style but this is a really excellent vocal. It sounds effortless and maybe it's just a case of he has grown into his voice. There's also a value to just letting a song breathe - sometimes I think his earlier music contained a lot of ideas just for the sake of putting them there - now I get the sense that he's really arranging the songs and letting them develop their own atmosphere.

Absolutely a very good song.
4/5