Finn Brothers – Record-facts…

The Finn Brothers are a New Zealand musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music.

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Tim and Neil intended to start the Finn brothers project after a three week song writing spree in 1989. However most of the songs written during this time were deemed suitable for inclusion on a Crowded House album and they appeared on Woodface which was released in 1991 and led to Tim joining Crowded House. Many of the original demo recordings from these sessions were eventually released as b-sides on Finn Brothers singles. Tim left Crowded House while they were touring Europe in support of the Woodface album.

Nearly ten years after their first album as a duo, the Finn Brothers returned with Everyone Is Here in the late summer of 2004. There was a considerably larger gap of time separating Everyone Is Here and Finn than there was between that album and Woodface, the one Crowded House album to feature Tim and the first time the brothers worked together since the disbandment of Split Enz. Only four years separated Finn and Woodface, while it took nearly a decade for the Finns to deliver a second album, and quite a bit happened during that time. Each brother released two studio albums and one live album (Tim‘s was a collaborative live effort, but it could be argued that Neil‘s star-studded 7 Worlds Collide was collaborative too) and, more importantly, their mother Mary passed away, and all of this feeds into the spirit, vibe, and sensibility of Everyone Is Here. At its heart, this is an album about family — specifically, about being brothers. This is the first time the Finns have written as directly and abundantly about their kinship, and unlike other famous rock siblings, the Finns‘ relationship is not only cordial but loving, which doesn’t mean that it’s any less complex than such legendarily combative brothers from the Everlys through the Gallaghers. Tim and Neil mine their relationship throughout the album — the word “brother” seems to appear here more often than the entirety of their past work — and they’ve come up with a moving set of songs that may not add up to a concept album yet are surely unified by a set of themes. Similarly, despite three different sets of producers (primarily Mitchell Froom, but also Jon Brion and Tony Visconti for individual tracks) the album boasts a unified sound, particularly in comparison to the rather ragged, seemingly unfinished Neil effort One Nil (distilled and strengthened in its American incarnation, One All) or Tim‘s Feeding the Gods. It’s a meditative, expertly crafted mature pop record, filled with subtle sonic textures — ranging from banjos to harmoniums, all adding colors to layers of primarily acoustic guitars — that give this low-key, reflective music a rich variety of color. While Everyone Is Here lacks the brightness of much of Woodface, it’s the Finn Brothers‘ strongest collection of songs since that masterpiece, and arguably their most emotionally resonant album to date. With any luck, it won’t be another decade’s wait until the sequel. The brothers began making music together at a young age; later, when Neil was 18, he was invited to join older brother Tim in Split Enz. Neil would go on to write one of the band’s biggest hits, “I Got You“. Tim released his first solo album Escapade before leaving Split Enz, and the band folded soon after. Neil started his own group, Crowded House and subsequently recorded two solo albums after Crowded House split in 1996.

Tracklist

1. “Won’t Give In”   – 4:17
2. “Nothing Wrong with You”   – 4:10
3. “Anything Can Happen”  – 3:04
4. “Luckiest Man Alive”  – 3:56
5. “Homesick” – 3:48
6. “Disembodied Voices” – 3:40
7. “Life Between Us” – 3:53
8. “All God’s Children” – 3:47
9. “Edible Flowers” (N. Finn, T. Finn, Eddie Rayner, Nigel Griggs, Noel Crombie) – 4:51
10. “All the Colours” (T. Finn) – 2:11
11. “Part of Me, Part of You” – 3:29
12. “Gentle Hum” (N. Finn) – 4:36
13. “Way Back Down” (iTunes Bonus) – 4:11

All songs written and composed by Neil and Tim Finn, except where noted..

Companies, etc.

Phonographic Copyright (p) – EMI Records Ltd.
Copyright (c) – EMI Records Ltd.
Marketed By – EMI
Distributed By – EMI
Copyright (c) – Mushroom Music
Recorded At – Cello Studios
Recorded At – Sage & Sound
Recorded At – Allaire Studios
Recorded At – Metropolis Studios
Recorded At – Roundhead Studios
Mixed At – Mix This!
Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Pressed By – Mediamotion

Credits

A&R – Chris Briggs
Artwork, Design – Seven
Conductor – Tony Visconti
Contractor [Strings] – Isobell Griffiths
Drums – Matt Chamberlain
Engineer [Additional Recording At Roundhead Studios Engineered By] – Neil Baldock
Engineer [Additional Recording At Sage And Sound, Assistant] – Errin Familia
Engineer [Album Completion Engineered By] – David Boucher
Leader [Strings] – Gavin Wright
Management – Alec McKinlay, Marcus Russell
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Bob Clearmountain
Mixed By [Assistant] – Kevin Harp
Photography By – Marti Friedlander
Producer – Mitchell Froom, The Finn Brothers
Recorded By – Adam Kasper
Recorded By [Assistant], Engineer [Additional Recording At Sage And Sound, Engineered By] – Steven Rhodes
Recorded By [Strings] – Chris Dibble
Violin [One Of The Violinists] – Miles Golding
Vocals – Neil Finn, Tim Finn