Crowded House – Oh Hi Review

Hello, indeed. For the many who launch themselves around their living room listening to Weather With You, a new Crowded House track should be collected up as quickly as a squirrel fetching acorns for the grand hibernation. Oh Hi, their latest track ahead of their new album Gravity Stairs, has Neil Finn and company back in tremendous, ever-present form. Just shy of three minutes but the acoustic wonders and well-layered intentions of the Australian rockers are back. They sing of a new dawn but cannot provide one themselves. Ah well, it happens to the best of them. Oh Hi sounds startled, a reaction to the world around them and a chance for the every day to speak out on its trauma. Lighter tools and sleek mixing may block out the darkness but there is always a chance to scream against it. 

Finn knows there is something wrong with the world – but he changes pace and finds the fear many are going through themselves. Is it a world gone wrong or is their head switching out common sense? Oh Hi does not answer this but alludes to the joy of living as best it can, an upbeat effort hoping to keep people pushing through. Neat positivity which feels the weight of Finn’s often exceptional wordplay. Mystic visions from the next generation will be what brings us to a new dawn, Finn believes. His ease of exploring those notions of world-changing chancers, welcoming them in with the warmth of Oh Hi, is an essential tool for Crowded House to pursue. They have made this their bed in warm materials, but Crowded House is keen to show they do not rest there. 

It all forms a bigger part of Crowded House, something the band has pursued since their earliest days. A chance for change is a rarity and Finn feels honour bound to urge those who feel a wave of influence to leap at it. There is less of an instrumental focus here. Much of the track feels well-layered but relaxed, and quieter. Either the mixing is neatly preparing the band for calmer seas or tinnitus has finally taken hold. Finn is convinced something positive can change, for the world around him and the band. Bursts of optimism are the real joy for Oh Hi. Hard-pressed to find anything wrong with the light-heartedness of it all, all we can do is sit and enjoy the ride.  

As comforting as Oh Hi is, there must be further depth added to Gravity Stairs. An album full of twee numbers like this could never survive the thump and horrors of the real world, which Finn is already alluding to throughout this track. Whether there is more depth to be had is a problem for the future. Right now, Oh Hi serves as a light slice of upbeat strength, a way for Crowded House to announce their upcoming record and a way for Finn and company to address their pride in a world which is, against all odds, still coming together and pushing on. It is hard to figure out where we are headed, the horrors of uncertainty around every corner are cooled for a moment with this Crowded House release.