Crowded House are preparing for their upcoming Australia and New Zealand tour with the release of a new single.
“Some Greater Plan (for Claire),” one of the standout tracks on Crowded House’s acclaimed album Gravity Stairs, was produced by the band alongside Steven Schram (Paul Kelly, San Cisco).
Written by Neil and Tim Finn, they borrowed from their father’s war diary for the track’s lyrics, drawing on a memory of a whirlwind Italian romance.
“It was always a thing that came up. Dad would have this wistful look in his eye when he would talk about Italy,” Neil explains.
Listen to the single, and watch the accompanying music video, below.
Crowded House begin their UK tour next week, followed by the Australian and New Zealand leg in November and December.
Gravity Stairs helped the Rolling Stone AU/NZ cover stars blast to #3 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
That result lifted Crowded House’s all-time tally to 10 top five efforts, including all eight studio albums plus two hits retrospectives.
Gravity Stairs was Crowded House’s first release through BMG, and first since Primary Wave Music acquired Finn’s music publishing catalog and writer’s share of public performance for his work with the beloved band.
The album was produced with the aforementioned Schram, and the band, currently featuring Neil and his sons Elroy and Liam; founding, Australia-born bass player Nick Seymour; and American keyboardist Mitchell Froom. Gravity Stairs was inspired by a heavy stone staircase near where the band leader holidays.
“The Gravity Stairs are symbolic of the struggle to ascend,” Neil said, “acknowledging the opposing forces of weight on the mechanics of living. It’s an act of will every day.”
Crowded House graced the cover of the June-August issue of Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“Everyone in Crowded House shares the history, and that’s the great thing about this lineup,” Neil told Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “It’s different to what it was, but it’s got as much soul to my mind as any lineup we’ve had. And potentially it might be our greatest lineup, by whatever measure you use. It feels like we’ve got massive trust now.”
