The son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn has big shoes to fill, but Liam Finn clearly doesn’t care to tread lightly.
It was his birthday wish for fans to experience his textural and hip-swinging new solo single, “Suspicious,” which was created in a very modern manner, “conceived, written and recorded entirely via livestream.”
Three years ago, Finn began an online livestreaming series on Twitch called ‘The Hyperverse’, in which he shares the ins and outs of his songwriting process to viewers in real time twice a week.
“There has always been a transformation that happens to me onstage, and a palpable chaotic synergy between myself and an audience that feeds it. This feeling has always been elusive to capture while writing a song in my bedroom, or recording in a studio and I’m excited to explore the possibilities with this project,” Finn writes about the series on his website.
“Suspicious” is taken from the musician’s upcoming solo album, called The Hyperverse, which is expected for release early next year.
Striking a ’70s-indebted, funk-laden style with an indie pop twist, “Suspicious” is a flamboyant follow-up to the similarly bold “Spiraling” and “Living Daylights.”
With rousing sonic blasts layered among laid-back vocals in a “reflection on the 90’s and early 2000’s,” Finn brings to mind Talking Heads, Parliament, and the vivacious spirit of David Bowie.
“As it turns out a lot of our heroes growing up were real dicks,” he shares about the song, making a “pledge to never stop chasing that muse and striving to be a good human” after experiencing the “clarity of a maniacal stream-of-consciousness adrenaline rush.”
Finn shares the same musical work ethic as his father, whom he shared his admiration for on the set of Crowded House’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ cover shoot recently.
“Dad is always going to be working on songs, pushing himself to the edge of madness,” he said of his dad and bandmate. “He’s the hardest working person I know in the world. And for better or for worse, it just won’t stop.”
Finn has been touring with Crowded House on their world tour in support of their latest album, Gravity Stairs. The tour will take the enduring pop-rock band to Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, and more Australian and New Zealand cities between November and December. Crowded House will also be supporting Pearl Jam at two Auckland shows later this year (tour information can be found here).
Liam Finn’s “Suspicious” is out now.
