Crowded House: Intriguer

Almost two decades since their heyday, Crowded House still cast a long shadow over pop. David Gray and James Blunt owe them a direct debt and some of the less outré recent Radiohead side projects were facilitated by singer Neil Finn. But Intriguer , though elegantly arranged and featuring contributions from engaging Kiwi songwriters Lawrence Arabia and Liam Finn, falls some way short of their best. "Isolation" is a fine piece of lysergic MOR but "Amsterdam" and closer "Elephants" sound nearer to the output of their more tepid imitators.