Crowded House - Intriguer (album stream)

Intriguer is the sixth studio album by alternative pop group Crowded House, released on 13 June 2010. It is the band's followup to the group's 2007 reunion album Time on Earth, and the first to feature all four current band members, including multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart and drummer Matt Sherrod, on all tracks.



The first single for the album, "Saturday Sun", was released to radio and the video clip released to the internet in April 2010.

Following the release of Crowded House's reunion album Time on Earth in 2007, Neil Finn announced that the band would re-enter the studio to record a followup album which would feature the current lineup, consisting of Finn on vocals, guitars and piano, fellow founding member Nick Seymour on bass guitar, Mark Hart on guitars and keyboards, and then-newcomer Matt Sherrod on drums. The band performed a small concert in The Leigh Sawmill, north of Auckland, in February 2008 and featured a few songs which were later to be recorded by the band for the next album.

In 2009, the band re-entered the studio and recorded demo tracks of 11 songs, some of which Finn had written during the tour around the previous album. For these recordings, the group enlisted producer Jim Scott for the first time, who then continued to produce the whole album in Finn's studio, Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand.

The band hired various guest musicians throughout the recording process, including multi-instrumentalist Don McGlashan, Lisa Germano on violin, Jon Brion on vocals and guitars, James Milne on additional vocals, and Finn's wife Sharon and son, Liam Finn contribute backing vocals and guitars, respectively.

The album was very well received by professional critics and public. On "Metascore" it reached 75/100, as generally favourable album and 9,3 out of 10 from listeners. Most entusiastic was "The Times" which pointed that "it goes shoulder to shoulder with their best materials" and gave it straight 5 stars. Also very positive was "Billboard" which found that "Finn's durable songcraft never fails to enthrall." "BBC" was also very positive with statement "Crowded House have always sounded in parts like the later solo career Paul McCartney should have had. Despite the anthems being on a tight leash, repeated listens reveal this to be one of their best albums".

"Entertaiment weekly" gave it B+ saying that "the House head honcho proved he was still a classy, clever tunesmith, and does so again here on Intriguer." Famous "Mojo", "All music guide" and "Music OMH" gave it 4 stars with many praises such as "Intriguer will have to stand or fall on its own merits. If there is any justice in the world it will be a bestseller". "All music guide" put "Intiguer" in annual list of best rock albums in 2010. "Intriguer" was on many lists of best albums in 2010. of various music magazines and sites including "Popdose","Popblerd", "Qromag","Blurt-online", etc. In "Popmatters" which gave 7 out of 10 stars at first, "Intriguer" finished on "slipped discs" of 2010., great albums which didnt make top 70 of the year.

Among mixed critics was "Q" which gave 3 stars stated that "who could of predicted, then, that Intriguer would be his best work in nearly two decades?". "Uncut" also gave 3 stars saying that "suffers slightly from Crowded House's signature weakness: a tendency to retreat into tastefulness".

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