| Gravity Stairs | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 31 May 2024 | |||
| Length | 40:40 | |||
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| Singles from Gravity Stairs | ||||
Gravity Stairs is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band Crowded House, released on 31 May 2024 through Lester Records and BMG Rights Management. It was preceded by the release of the lead single "Oh Hi" on 8 February 2024. The album received favourable reviews from critics.
The band produced the album with Steven Schram, [3] with frontman Neil Finn stating that the band wanted to maintain a "dreamy quality" on the record yet be more "lyrically direct". [4] Lead single "Oh Hi" was inspired by Finn's work for the nonprofit organisation So They Can, which builds schools in remote areas of Kenya and Tanzania. [5] Finn named the album after a stone staircase near a place he vacations, which he compared to his mentality as a musician, calling the title a "metaphor for getting a little older and becoming aware of your own mortality, your own physicality" as there is "more determination needed to get to the top, but there's still the same compulsion to climb". [5] The cover art is a pastiche of the Beatles' 1966 album Revolver [6] drawn by Nick Seymour. [7]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100 [8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Classic Rock |    [9] |
| Mojo | [10] |
| MusicOMH | [11] |
| Uncut | 6/10 [12] |
Gravity Stairs received a score of 73 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five reviews, which the website categorised as "generally favorable" reception. [8] Mojo 's Andy Fyfe called the album "the most Crowded House thing that Crowded House have made in 30 years" as "'Teenage Summer', 'Oh Hi' and particularly 'All That I Can Ever Own' and 'The Howl' effortlessly withstand direct comparison with the band's mid-'90s peak". [10] John Murphy of MusicOMH summarised it as "a welcome reminder that the Finn family are still going strong, with upbeat, breezy numbers set against languid, deliberately paced tracks". [11]
Damian Jones of Classic Rock wrote that "gone (for the most part) are the familiar pop hooks that dominated [the band's] early records, exchanged for more thoughtful, complicated arrangements as frontman Neil Finn contemplates his own mortality". [9] Uncut felt that "Crowded House's eighth studio release ticks all the expected boxes. Pitch-perfect harmonies and inventive chord sequences abound. [...] Where it falls short, perhaps, is the absence of the full-blooded radio-friendly hits of old, although the shuffling 'All That I Can Ever Own' is a close cousin to 1993's 'Distant Sun'". [12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Magic Piano" | Neil Finn | 4:46 |
| 2. | "Teenage Summer" | N. Finn | 4:47 |
| 3. | "The Howl" | Liam Finn | 3:26 |
| 4. | "All That I Can Ever Own" | N. Finn | 3:04 |
| 5. | "Oh Hi" | N. Finn | 2:59 |
| 6. | "Some Greater Plan (for Claire)" |
| 4:10 |
| 7. | "Black Water, White Circle" | N. Finn | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Blurry Grass" |
| 3:09 |
| 9. | "I Can't Keep Up with You" |
| 4:01 |
| 10. | "Thirsty" |
| 3:30 |
| 11. | "Night Song" | N. Finn | 4:12 |
| Total length: | 40:40 | ||
Notes
Crowded House
Additional contributors
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [14] | 3 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] | 78 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [16] | 4 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [17] | 6 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [18] | 8 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) [19] | 3 |
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Later band members included Finn's brother Tim who was in their former band together Split Enz, sons Liam and Elroy, as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod, with Neil Finn and Seymour being the sole constant members.
Nicholas More Seymour is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitarist in the rock band Hunters and Collectors.
Divine Discontent is the fourth studio album by American band Sixpence None the Richer, released on October 29, 2002.
Woodface is the third studio album by Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol Records in July 1991. It features five singles: "Chocolate Cake", "Fall at Your Feet", "It's Only Natural", "Weather with You", and "Four Seasons in One Day". Woodface was a major hit in Australia and New Zealand as well as giving the band their first top ten hit album in the UK. It was listed at No. 3 in the book 100 Best Australian Albums in October 2010. It was voted number 80 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
"Don't Dream It's Over" is a song by rock band Crowded House, recorded for their 1986 self-titled debut studio album. The song was composed and written by New Zealand frontman Neil Finn and released in October 1986 as the fourth single from the album.
Together Alone is the fourth studio album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. It was released in October 1993 and was their first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart as a full band member. Unlike the band's first three albums, which were recorded in the US and Australia and produced by Mitchell Froom, Together Alone was recorded in New Zealand with producer Youth. Six singles were released from Together Alone, including "Distant Sun", which was a top 10 hit in New Zealand and Canada, and "Locked Out" which reached number 12 on the UK singles chart and number 8 on the US Modern Rock chart, the latter on the strength of the song's inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Reality Bites.
Temple of Low Men is the second studio album by New Zealand-Australian rock band Crowded House, released by Capitol Records on 5 July 1988. The three band members, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester, recorded the album in Melbourne and Los Angeles with Mitchell Froom as producer. Finn had written all ten tracks during the two years since their self-titled debut. Temple of Low Men peaked at number one in Australia, number two in New Zealand, number ten in Canada and number 40 on the US Billboard 200.
Crowded House is the debut album by New Zealand-Australian band Crowded House. Produced by Mitchell Froom, it was released in August 1986 and was certified platinum in four countries. The album includes the hit singles "Don't Dream It's Over", "Something So Strong", "Mean to Me", "World Where You Live" and "Now We're Getting Somewhere".
See Ya 'Round is the tenth and final studio album by New Zealand's premier new wave band, Split Enz, and was released in 1984, following the departure of founding member Tim Finn, whose solo career had officially taken off the year before. Remaining songwriter Neil Finn, claiming to be a little daunted by the prospect of leading his older brother's band, subsequently announced that this would be the final Split Enz studio recording. Since he only had an EP's worth of material ready, the record was filled out by lightweight, experimental contributions from each of the other band members. In interviews, Neil has revealed that the original EP was to have been the first five tracks on the album.
Time on Earth is the fifth studio album by the pop-rock band Crowded House. Tracks have been produced by both Ethan Johns and Steve Lillywhite and the album was released on 30 June 2007 in Australia, 2 July in the United Kingdom and 10 July in North America. Time on Earth is the band's first studio album since 1993, and marks the reunion of the band eleven years after they disbanded and features new drummer Matt Sherrod in place of the original drummer, Paul Hester, who died in 2005.
"Don't Stop Now" is the first single from Crowded House's fifth studio album Time on Earth. It was released in Australia on 16 June 2007; in the United Kingdom, it was released digitally on 18 June 2007 and physically on 25 June 2007.
Farewell to the World is a 1996 concert by rock group Crowded House, which was released on video in 1996 and on CD and DVD in 2006. The concert was recorded on the outside steps of the Sydney Opera House, as a charity event to raise funds for the Sydney Children's Hospital. The event was originally scheduled for the night of 23 November 1996; however, it was delayed one day due to rain. The concert was to be the last that the group played, as the group had announced their dissolution several months prior. The concert attracted a crowd of greater than 100,000 people, with some estimates of 250,000 people in attendance. Since then, several concerts have been performed in the same place, such as the Mushroom Records anniversary celebration. Every Australian Idol year finale uses the outdoor as well as the indoor of the Opera House.
"Something So Strong" is a rock song written by Neil Finn and Mitchell Froom and performed by Crowded House for their eponymous debut album. The track was released as the album's fifth and final single in April 1987. The single peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 3 in New Zealand, No. 7 in the United States Billboard Hot 100, and No. 10 on the Canadian RPM 100.
This is a discography for the rock band Crowded House. As of 2021 Crowded House have sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
"I Got You" is a song by New Zealand rock band Split Enz. It was released as a single on 21 January 1980 by Mushroom Records in Australia and New Zealand, and August 1980 by A&M internationally, as the first single from their breakthrough album True Colours. Written by co-lead singer Neil Finn, who did not initially believe it to be a hit, it became the band's most commercially successful song, topping the charts in Australasia and placing in the top 20 of the British and Canadian charts. By July 1980, it had become the biggest selling single in Australian history.
"I Walk Away" is a song written by Neil Finn, and originally recorded by Finn's group Split Enz. It was released in September 1984 as the lead single from their tenth and final studio album See Ya 'Round, and was a chart hit in New Zealand and Australia.
Intriguer is the sixth studio album by rock group Crowded House, released on 11 June 2010. It is the band's follow-up to the group's 2007 reunion album Time on Earth. The first single for the album, "Saturday Sun", was released to radio and the video clip released to the internet in April 2010.
Pajama Club are a rock band from Auckland, formed in 2011. They consist of Neil Finn, Sharon Finn, Sean Donnelly, and Alana Skyring.
Goin' Your Way is a live album collaboration recorded by Neil Finn and Paul Kelly during a performance at the Sydney Opera House on 10 March 2013. It was released on 8 November as a stand-alone 2× CD, Blu-ray or DVD; or in a Limited Edition Deluxe version with all three formats. From 18 February to 18 March, Finn and Kelly undertook a joint tour of Australia, they performed tracks from their respective careers, including re-interpreting each other's work. The CD album peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart while the DVD reached No. 1 on the related Music DVD Chart.
Dreamers Are Waiting is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band Crowded House, released on 4 June 2021 through EMI Music Australia. It is their first studio album since 2010's Intriguer, with the band reuniting with producer Mitchell Froom, who is now also the band's keyboardist, for the first time since Recurring Dream (1996). It is also Crowded House's first album with Neil Finn's sons Liam and Elroy as members of the group.
