“It really was the most intense thing I’ve ever done,” says Neil Finn, reflecting on his latest installment of the 7 Worlds Collide project. The loose collective, helmed by Finn, originally put out an album in 2001, from a series of recordings of live shows held in Auckland, New Zealand, but this time around the 7 Worlds Collide collective have released a 2-disc, 24-song collection of new compositions, written and recorded over a three week period in Finn’s Auckland studio in December 2008.
Rejoining the sessions – which sound like a dream-team, professional musician’s workshop – are the likes of Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway (Radiohead), Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Tim Finn, [son] Liam Finn, and Lisa Germano, although this time around there was the notable omission of Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), who was unable to attend the sessions due to personal commitments.
Almost every day there was a magical moment.Additionally the collective is revitalized with new members that include most of US band Wilco (including singer Jeff Tweedy), KT Tunstall (coincidentally in NZ on honeymoon), and New Zealanders Bic Runga and Don McGlashan. The results are a master class in songwriting; individually and collaboratively, the artists have sparked an ember of musical magic, which is warm, comforting and memorable. The spirit of music is clearly at the forefront of the album, with egos checked at the door, and the business end not even slightly evident in the equation; in fact the proceeds of the album are being donated to international aid agency Oxfam.
In London, for one of two launch shows for the new 7 Worlds Collide album – the second show held in L.A. – Neil Finn is nursing the effects of a big night out celebrating with friends. Nevertheless he is suitably proud and loquacious when talking about the second installment from the spirited collective.
“We didn’t have any intention to look beyond what we did the first time around, but then there were a series of conversations that happened over the last few years. I was on tour with Crowded House and running into people in various places – I saw Eddie in Seattle, I saw Ed in London, I saw Phil somewhere else actually, and then Johnny at our Liverpool show. Each time we had a conversation saying that it would be great to do it again over the course of the following year or so. I just asked them to let me know what a good window was for them, and a few of them suggested Christmas last year – ya know, bring the family out and have a holiday in N.Z. at the same time.
“Eddie [Vedder] couldn’t make it over at the time because his wife was having a baby, but otherwise all the players from the first sessions were able to join together again. As it was a recording project and I have a lot of space in my recording studio in Auckland, I knew we could accommodate a few more people, and so I thought we could cast the net a little wider this time around, and hence the invitation to Wilco. I’d met them before when they toured Auckland, and so I sent off a wishful email to them, and they came straight back and said yes.”
Making the album
Descending into New Zealand, some of the assembly of merry musical-elite packed song ideas and embryonic chord-structures into their suitcases, alongside their sun-cream and floaties. Mostly however, the Auckland studio was the creative hot pot for inspiration. Finn says some members worked on parts of songs by themselves, and some worked together in loose arrangements and open creativity.
"It was a bit of both really - there were times when people would shut themselves away and try to finish lyrics and whatever, but other times people would work on ideas together. For instance, on the first night KT Tunstall was there we had had a long day of recording and it was around 11pm at night and I had a few drinks and was ready to go to bed. However she had just written some lyrics on the spot, and asked me to come and help her finish the song. She dragged me off to this piano and I didn’t actually think I had anything in me at that time, honestly, and then twenty minutes later, we had a song. I credit her energy and creativity for that, but then that stuff started to happen quite a lot. She then went off and wrote a song with Bic Runga in my chandelier shop, which is located at the corner of my building.
"Phil Selway wrote ‘The Ties That Bind Us’ on the stairs, in full-view of everyone, and with kids running up and down the stairs, and people would stop-by and do some harmonies. Sebastian (Steinberg) moved his double bass there, and we ended up recording it on the stairs because that’s where it seemed to resonate. I mean, who knew that Phil could sing so beautifully?”
In addition to the collaborations from all the great talents involved in the project, The Sun Came Out also makes a notable highlight for Finn; it is the first time his family have featured all together on one album – wife Sharon joins Neil on ‘Little By Little’, son Liam Finn reinforces his talent on ‘Red Wine Bottle’, and his other son Elroy Finn makes his debut with ‘The Cobbler’.
“It was awesome. Elroy was around and I knew that there was a possibility that he could get to record his song and that he could end up playing some percussion. He was just in the room when people were getting songs worked up – he played on ‘Bodhisattva Blues’ and ‘Too Blue’ – and he just played himself into game. He got some game-time and he scored a goal,” Finn says proudly.
A dream collaboration
It’s clear that the sessions for this project were a dream collaboration for Finn, who says that ‘the most meaningful thing for me is to collaborate with others’. Finn even fell behind with his own recordings for the album because he didn’t want to miss what was going on in the other parts of his studio at the time.
“I have amazing memories from it and I think there’s been a real productivity from everyone involved since then. I’m not claiming all the credit for that, but there’s something about starting this year off in such an energetic fashion has definitely permeated everyone’s lives I think.
“What would seem like you would be energetic at the end of it has the opposite effect. Sometimes when you’ve worked really hard on something, you just keep on going because you don’t wanna stop. Wilco stayed on to record most of their rhythm tracks in the studio, and that now means their record is out, and I’m not sure if it would have happened that quickly otherwise. Johnny’s gone off and done an album with The Cribs, and we’re 80% through a new Crowded House record. KT’s got a whole new record written and she’s about to start recording...everyone’s really in gear.”
As for Finn’s personal magical moments form the sessions; he says that the songs that started from scratch in the studio were the most exciting and exhilarating.
"Almost every day there was a magic moment,” he says with almost fan-like enthusiasm. “Some of the recording themselves were pretty amazing; ‘Too Blue’ had over ten people in the studio – five guitarists, two bass-players, two drummers, percussion and piano made it a really memorable sessions. Once we started hitting it with that song there was a real genuine sense of excitement in the room – that was a lovely moment.
“It was a happening; it was exciting to walk into the building every day – you’d never know what would be happening in any room. It made the whole project very special and exciting.”
The Sun Came Out is out now through Sony.
