Even though they worked with a revolving door of sidemen, the recording started to feel like a band album anyway. The 10th anniversary of Crowded House's demise was looming, and it just felt right to put it back together. Time on Earth has since been released to glowing reviews and happy fans.

Finn spoke with Rocky pop music writer Mark Brown last week from Milwaukee about the tour.

1. What turned this into a Crowded House album?

Finn: "Nick was on board for the whole thing. . . . The relationship became deeply ingrained in the record. I was enjoying having an ally in the studio and in other respects as well. It just grew. Nick's bass playing is quite distinctive, and the way he plays in my songs gives them a sound. When you have it back again, you realize, 'Oh yeah, this is something greater than the sum of its parts.' "

2. So the DVD release of your final concert last year wasn't a springboard?

Finn: "We didn't want to talk about it till we had a drummer in place. Circumstances changed when the news leaked out. It leaked out that we were playing Coachella, it leaked out that . . . we were auditioning drummers. It wasn't a skillful marketing job, but that's the band. We broke up in style, we filmed it right, and 10 years later we launched a new career on the back of it. But that is something slightly odd. It's a Crowded House kind of thing as well."

3. How did you end up writing Silent House with the Dixie Chicks for their album and yours?

Finn: "That came about through a phone call to see whether I wanted to write a song with them. I don't normally do that, but it was intriguing, coming from left field. I wasn't that familiar with them, to be honest. I was enamored of them because of their political stance. I had seen them on TV doing a benefit concert. They were really charismatic and really great singers, a great vibe about them."

4. How much did Paul (Hester's) suicide influence the album?

Finn: "You can read into the album whatever you will. I like music to be that way. There are a lot of things on the record that are influenced by the times and events of the past few years. Having said that, I don't think it's a morbid record or a maudlin record. I'm just examining the way I was feeling at that time."

5. A lot of your songs have optimism in them, be it Don't Stop Now, from the new disc, or Won't Give In, from the last Finn Brothers album.

Finn: "We luxuriate in a bit of melancholy here and there, but there's always hopefulness in the music. I don't want to make desperate music. It's not the way I want to live my life. But certainly I've always been attracted to the sad songs on records. To me they're about giving people empathy. I think that's comforting."

6. There a rumors of a box set, a new album or both. Which is it?

Finn: "Both, I think, next year. We'll have a new record. We've got such a momentum going onstage now. . . . We want to make the most of it. The box set has been worked on for the past three or four years. We want to gather the most definitive live performances we can. There are also a lot of good demos and unreleased stuff."

7. You say you're not good at marketing, but you've kept a steady flow of Crowded House rarities and music flowing during the 10-year layoff. Is that your idea or the record company squeezing out more money?

Finn: "Whether or not they'll squeeze much money out I don't know. They aren't big sellers. The Afterglow (rarities) record came from my realizing we had quite a lot of material that didn't make albums that I thought was really good. For the audience that's out there for us . . . I think they like getting a full- rounded picture of us."