Neil Finn and son Liam have recorded an album together, and Father John Misty has released his depply moving fourth.
Finn de cycle: Father and son to release album together
Blood is definitely thicker than water – and plainly more melodic, too – when it comes to Neil Finn's history of collaborating with family members. New Zealand's pre-eminent songwriter (and previously a long-time Australian resident) got his start alongside older brother Tim in Split Enz in the 1970s, returned the favour by bringing his sibling into Crowded House in the 1990s, cut an album with his wife Sharon for the 2011 project Pajama Club, and has featured sons Elroy and Liam in various touring bands. Now Neil, who was recently announced as Lindsey Buckingham's replacement in Fleetwood Mac, has made an album with Liam. Recorded at Neil's Auckland studio and due out on August 24 via PIAS/Inertia, Lightsleeper formally connects the two generations. The first single from the 60-year-old father and his 34-year-old son is Back to Life, and it captures Neil's gift for melancholic uplift and Liam's feel for intricate, interlocking instrumentation. Not surprisingly, harmonies forged over the decades are prominent, and with its imagery of dedication extending through to the afterlife, the song's Beatles-like touches bestow a suitably timeless feel. See neilandliamfinn.com for further news.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Father John Misty
God's Favourite Customer
(Sub Pop/ADA)
★★★★
"Don't be alarmed, this is just my vibe," remarks Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, near the start of his fourth solo album. Dry discombobulation that allows for an ironic distance has long been the folk-pop singer-songwriter's defining trait, but on God's Favourite Customer it crashes – in impeccably crafted slow-motion – headlong into mental anguish. With its confessional piano ballads and penthouse regret, the album drills down into heartbreak. There's still sarcasm, but on Date Night it's now despairing, while The Songwriter measures the success of his craft versus the cost it extracts from the subjects he supposedly loves. That self-awareness is what both separates and elevates Tillman's album from Kanye West's equally troubled Ye. Both artists are bouncing off rock bottom, but only the former knows it.
Neil Finn and son Liam have recorded an album together called Lightsleeper.
Photo: Supplied
SELECTA
In the Sky (EP) – Mallrat
Ye – Kanye West
Moon Pix – Cat Power
Craig Mathieson has been the film critic for The Sunday Age since March 2012, having previously held the same position for Rolling Stone and The Bulletin. The former magazine editor writes widely on film, music and television, and is still able to quote sizeable chunks of the dialogue from Michael Mann's Heat.
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