33 1/3 Oceania

Intertextual, passionate and personal throughout, Crowded House's Together Alone is a key addition to the surprisingly limited range of scholarship on one of Australasia's most successful and adored bands.

Released in 1993, Together Alone was an album that fundamentally reshaped Crowded House. Following the hugely popular Woodface (1991), with all its radio-friendly hits, Neil Finn pursued an artistic direction that would twist the band's chemistry, stretch them in experimental sonic directions and embrace a decidedly melancholy lyrical tenor. To achieve this, he opted for a concentrated and intentional immersion in place and landscape - that place being Karekare, a rugged coastal locale in West Auckland.

In partnership with English producer Youth, Crowded House created a record that both expanded their musical palette and provided a profound statement of connection to environment. The book approaches the album from several angles: it considers why Finn took the decision to record in an isolated private home in rural New Zealand, and what exactly he and the band were seeking there. It also celebrates the contributions of the other key figures in the album's making: Youth and multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart in particular.

The book contains an account of author Barnaby Smith's visit to Karekare - a psychogeographic exercise designed to deepen an understanding of Together Alone, and by proxy a consideration of what factors, such as music and literature, might go into forging an emotional relationship with a certain place. The book also features a thorough dissection of each song on Together Alone, embracing music theory, lyric analysis and biography.