Our 2024 favourite so far: Crowded House’s Gravity Stairs

Despite approaching their 40th anniversary, Australian band Crowded House is still blessing us with incredible music that shows no sign of creative bankruptcy. Much like their 2021 release, Dreamers are Waiting, Gravity Stairs is tight, introspective, and simply beautiful.

Neil Finn understands the importance of the “dreamy quality” which constitutes the Crowded House sound, and this album does not stray from the winning formula.

This is perhaps most clear in the album’s 10th track, Thirsty. It’s one of those songs best listened to after hours in a dark room; Finn’s gentle vocals are accompanied by an elegantly played acoustic guitar which blossoms into a fantastic leading melody in the track’s final minute. Thirsty is Audio Odyssey’s favourite track from Gravity Stairs and we could not recommend it enough to folk fans.

Crowded House’s 8th studio album is much more than this though. Gravity Stairs knows when to be loud and bold too. Take the album’s 3rd track, The Howl for example. Written by Neil Finn’s son, Liam, some fans are claiming it to be ‘The best song Liam has ever written’. Other tracks we love include Oh Hi, a whimsical and hope-filled song about the wonderful potential of the minds of children inspired by the charity work Finn conducted which helped build schools in remote area of Kenya and Tanzania. We also couldn’t leave out the final track of the album, Night Song. Canonically the current final song in Crowded House’s discography, this track’s mid-song beat shift will leave you yearning for more Crowded House, which we hope to one day receive.

Whether this is the first time you’ve ever heard of Crowded House or you have been listening since 1985, we encourage you to give Gravity Stairs a listen and let us know what your favourite tracks are. If you find Crowded House to be your cup of tea, other albums we love by them are 2021’s Dreamers are Waiting and 1991’s Woodface.

Written by Joshua Herbert.