Crowded House mainman Neil Finn has assembled a dream-team of collaborators for his latest project. Consisting of sundry members of Radiohead and Wilco, along with Johnny Marr, KT Tunstall, Lisa Germano and Bic Runga, The Sun Came Out was recorded over three weeks in Auckland earlier this year. Fun was clearly had during the sessions, judging by the YouTube clips, and it’s all for a good cause (Oxfam). Alas, the results amount to something of a mixed bag. The project certainly has its moments but never quite lives up to its star billing.
Finn and Marr duet on the jaunty opener, ‘Too Blue’, a violin-led rouser that owes more to The Waterboys’ ‘The Whole of The Moon’ than anything Crowded House or The Smiths have done in the past. KT Tunstall acquits herself nicely on the uptempo rocker ‘Hazel Black’ while Liam Finn, Neil’s son, proves he’s a chip off the old block on the spacey, trance-folk of ‘Red Wine Bottle’.
A definite highlight is Jeff Tweedy’s rollicking ‘You Never Know’. That said, it’s not too different from the version of the same song on Wilco’s latest album – leading you to wonder why it’s here in the first placee. Tweedy also shines on the sombre, downbeat ‘What Could Have Been’. Johnny Marr takes the lead vocal and jangly acoustic guitar on the powerpoppy ‘Run In The Dust’ (which faintly recalls The Smiths’ ‘The Headmaster Ritual’) while Radiohead drummer Phil Selway surprises with his first ever lead vocal on the pastoral, folksy ‘The Ties That Bind Us.’ There’s lots to like here, then. But ultimately it feels like less than the sum of its parts.