CROWDED HOUSE TOGETHER ALONE

Recorded at New Zealand’s remote Karekare beach and produced by Killing Joke’s Youth, the band make a beautiful, atmospheric album that turns out to be the swansong for the original version of Crowded House It was not an easy record to make, there were a lot of mixed emotions. There was a lot of drama and failed relationships, partly within the band, although we stayed pretty close. There was the odd hissy fit, which is normal, but mostly it was a strange energy around us. As much as Youth’s influence on the record was a good thing for us at the time, there was a kind of loss of innocence about it as well. Don’t ask me to explain that. It just felt that way. We had the A-list of producers wanting to work with us, but we were looking for somebody who would take us somewhere new. Also, the fact that when we met Youth he rolled a really nice big joint really impressed Paul a lot. It shouldn’t have counted for much, but I think maybe it did! There was a reasonable amount of indulgence in that department during the making of the record. We were younger men then. Couldn’t handle it now. It felt like a nice time to go back to New Zealand, to dig up some old feelings. We looked first at Great Barrier Island. Jaz Coleman piggybacked me across a swollen river in a flood when we went looking for a place to record! We eventually found this house in Karekare which we thought would work. We carried the console up the driveway, which took about 10 men. It was a huge effort to get the place to work, but there’s something about setting yourself a task like that which means you’re really invested. It was a powerful place to record. You can feel it in the album. People who go to Karekare tell me that they’ve played it as they drive down into the valley and it has quite a profound effect on them. It does make really good sense in that landscape.

My writing was evolving. New atmospheres had emerged, and we’d become a really good band. We had found ourselves. Mark Hart, our fourth member, had been around long enough that he felt he was an important part of the sound. There was a broader agenda for what the songs could be, and to give Youth his due, he helped push us to stretch things out a bit. It was a confronting record to make, but it has a deep sense of atmosphere. It feels mysterious, it has an elegance but some unhinged quality as well. It’s my favourite, too.

“When we met Youth, he rolled a really big joint. There was a reasonable amount of indulgence in that department”