I posted a little over a week ago about the forthcoming Crowded House album, Time on Earth, from Neil Finn and his bandmates.
But there’s even more Finn news: Last week also saw the U.S. release of a new solo album from the other Finn brother, Tim Finn — the founder of Split Enz and the man responsible for beautiful, sparkling pop masterpieces like 1983’s Escapade and 1993’s Before & After, not to mention the two superb Finn Brothers albums he’s recorded with Neil.
Imaginary Kingdom is Tim’s first solo disc since 2001, and includes his song from the soundtrack to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “Winter Light.”
Finn says that being on the road with his brother also helped to inspire him to write new material. “I was connecting back to the fans from the Split Enz days,” he explains, “people I hadn’t played to much in Europe and England and even in the States. I haven’t done a whole lot of touring on my own, so it was connecting me back to a lot of people. I think that feeds the writing as well.”
Finn recorded “Imaginary Kingdom” in Nashville with producer Bobby Huff, with whom he’d made “Winter Light,” his contribution to the soundtrack for “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Another song on “Imaginary Kingdom,” “Salt to the Sea,” is a tribute to the late Crowded House drummer Paul Hester.
Finn won’t take part in the upcoming Crowded House reunion — “It’s something Neil wanted to do … and I’m supportive of that,” he says — but a short promo tour in support of the new album is slated to begin May 1 in Los Angeles. A more extensive outing will follow in the summer.
Imaginary Kingdom is a return to form for Tim, filled with tuneful, melodic, piano-based songs more in the vein of his first four solo albums than the two from the early 00s, which had more of a fuzz-and-distortion sound. Those records were an interesting experiment, but this one finds Tim coming back to his proven strengths, and the results are gorgeous.
Here’s the playful and very pretty video for the first single, “Couldn’t Be Done.” It has a certain Split Enz look about it, if you ask me (and since you’re on my blog, in a sense you have!)
Stop by Tim’s official site for news, tour info, photos, discography and more.
There’s also a nice little video clip of Tim talking about the album and his creative process.
And here’s Tim and Neil together doing “Won’t Give In,” from Everyone Is Here, the Finn Brothers album that came out in 2004.
Bonus: Tim performing the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” live in 1993.
Previously on Ocelopotamus:
• New Crowded House Album Due in July; Johnny Marr on Two Songs
• Music: Split Enz & Sparks
Chris Bell // May 8, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Tim’s ‘Imaginary Kingdom’ has been out in NZ for a while, and after having it loaded on my iPod for a couple of months and catching tracks on shuffle while I’m working, I can thoroughly recommend it – especially Couldn’t Be Done. The whole album has a hint of that delightful homemade quality that the first Finn record had.
Thanks for all the related links, Dave.
Ocelopotamus // May 8, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Most welcome, Chris!
Yes, I usually order any Finn-related records on import as soon as they’re released anywhere because I can’t bear the lag time till US release. (Ditto for the Waterboys and a few other favorite acts.) But for some reason I missed hearing about Imaginary Kingdom till it was already out here.
Oh, well, at least I got to save the import surcharge for once, and the timing is good because it makes a nice pacifier while I wait for the new Crowded House album.