WILCO, KT TUNSTALL, RADIOHEAD HELP NEIL FINN’S 7 WORLDS COLLIDE PROJECT

Neil Finn, Wilco, and Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien took part in the 7 Worlds Collide project and Finn talked about what it’s all about.

Crowded House’s Neil Finn has released a brand new double disc titled “The Sun Came Out” which is his latest release from his 7 Worlds Collide Project. The 7 Worlds Collide project began in 2001 with the release of a live recording and for “The Sun Came Out”, Finn brought together an All Star lineup in the studio. The album, which was recorded over a three-week stretch in New Zealand at the end of 2008, features Finn alongside artists ranging from KT Tunstall to Radiohead’s PhilSelway and Ed O’ Brien to Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone along with Neil’s brother and son Tim Finn and Liam Finn.

Artisan News caught up with Neil Finn to get his thoughts on the energy in the recording sessions for “The Sun Came Out” being infectious.

“The recording of the album was just, it was a happening, there’s no other word for it really. There was every day we had people wandering the corridors with guitars and setting up on stair wells and in the studios and songs were being written, recorded, arranged. You’d walk in one room to another and there’d be a completely different group of people. The energy was just infectious and the spirit was contagious and I think the music is great. The out pouring was twenty four songs in three weeks.”

Finn also talked about wanting o try something different after releasing a live album in 2001, so he invited some of his friends and peers to come down to his beautiful Roundhead Studios in New Zealand.

“We wanted it to be different this time so a recording project started to be talked about in groups when I would see people and Christmas, New Year of last year started to shape up as a time where everybody fancied coming to New Zealand. For obvious reasons, it’s Summer and we’re at the beach and they’ve got families and kids now. Yeah, it just added up to a really good time all around. We could accommodate a few extra people this time because it was a recording project and I’ve got three spaces in my building in Auckland. So, we sent out invitations Wilco amongst them, well four of the members of Wilco and I was delighted that they wanted to do it plus a couple of my friends from Auckland Bic Runga and Don McGlashan, my whole family this time and KT Tunstall.”

Finn also talked about what a perfect fit working with the Oxfam organization has been on the 7 Worlds Collide project.

“Oxfam are an organization that’s based in Oxford, England. They’ve been going for a long time and they’re very well known in that part of the world and also New Zealand and Australia for being a very effective organization at the front end of disaster relief on the ground with development aid and fighting good political battles for fair trade and now for global warming. So, their focus is broad and they’ve got a great record for getting money to the places it’s needed with a good philosophy. They’re non religious and almost everybody involved with the project had some positive association in the past with this organization. So, yeah it was a good fit.”

“The Sun Comes Out” also features Lisa Germano, Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg and Augie March guitarist Glenn Richards and finds each guest contributing to the song writing process. Radiohead fans also get a chance to hear drummer Selway sing on a pair of tunes called “The Witching Hour” and “The Tie That Binds Us,” where Selway plays acoustic guitar and Wilco serves as his backing band. Proceeds from “The Sun Came Out” will go in helping Oxfam’s numerous causes.