It’s been 11 years since Crowded House last put out a record, and with band founder/front man Neil Finn joining Fleetwood Mac in 2018, it was a pretty safe assumption that the House would remain empty forever.
But after an extremely successful tour with Fleetwood Mac, Finn was on a creative tear. So along with founding bassist Nick Seymour, pulled his old band back together, bringing longtime collaborator Mitchell Froom (who produced and played keyboardist on the band’s first three albums) and Neil’s sons, Liam and Elroy Finn along. The result, though not as immediately catchy as the band’s earlier, now classic records, is still a solid collection of jangle pop.
The album opens with “Bad Times Good” a mellow, sweet atmospheric track whose dream like sound aptly fits the album title. To be fair, most of the songs here have an ethereal dream-like sound. That’s apparent on a song like the hypnotic “To The Island.” “I’ve always been afraid of just repeating the same formulas, and somehow this feels like a fresh and authentic way to re-approach Crowded House today with an awareness of all our history and where, how and why it began in the first place,” Neil Finn said recently about the album. And while Dreamers Are Waiting is definitely not a retread of old Crowded House album, that core sound, anchored in deep harmonies and strong pop hooks are still there.
Songs like the chugging, laid back “Sweet Tooth,” and “Whatever You Want” are instantly catchy, while other tracks, like the labored “Too Good For This World,” take repeated listens to really appreciate. The album was recorded just before the pandemic shut down studios across the globe, and put a hold on plans for the album release and tour, but Crowded House took full advantage of a captive global audience and released some amazing home concerts that went viral immediately. Now that the world is slowly, tentatively starting to reopen, Crowded House is finally heading out on tour to finally showoff these new songs live. It may have taken a decade, but the House has finally filling up again.
