These two highly enjoyable singles give Neil Finn some common ground with Tori Amos. Both of them have released non-album B-sides that are, in some cases, better than material that actually made it onto their albums. On the first Australian CD single, supporting the single “Sinner” (still possibly my favorite song on Neil’s debut solo album), there’s also the album cut “Astro” and two wonderful, gorgeous ballads, “808 Song” (co-written with Try Whistling This collaborator and Midnight Oil alumnus Jim Moginie) and “Identical Twin”, both of which more than deserved slots on the album. To give one example, I would rather have heard “808 Song” and “Identical Twin” on the album than the exceedingly long and slow final track, “Addicted”. To fill out the “She Will Have Her Way” single (also an Aussie import), there are two bouncy, somewhat more upbeat songs – “Tokyo” and “She Comes Scattered” – and an incredible live version of “Sinner” recorded in Studio B at Abbey Road. “Tokyo” is a somewhat silly song, while “She Comes Scattered”, with its heavy helping of fuzz bass, reminds me a lot of “Kiss The Road Of Rarotonga” on the Finn Brothers album.
I’ve gotten out of the habit of touching on CD singles unless they’re something really unique – which this third offering by Neil Finn happens to be. One of Finn’s more unabashedly commercial tunes, “Can You Hear Us?” serves two purposes: providing a sort of anthem for the New Zealand All Blacks football team, and also donating part of the single’s proceeds to a charity benefitting women who have been victims of domestic violence. All in all, a couple of very worthy causes – and not a bad song either. Also included is the song’s video in MPEG format (with guest appearances by Tim Finn and one of New Zealand’s other internationally recognized celebrities, Xena: Warrior Princess herself, Lucy Lawless. (Around the same time as this single was released down under, fans aboard may have also noticed Ms. Lawless appearing out-of-character in some anti-domestic violence PSAs placed in Xena and Hercules episodes.) A Maori haka, performed by the All Blacks before the big game presumably, is included, as well as a rap version of “Can You 
Hear Us?” performed by Urban Pacifika; truthfully, Urban Pacifika doesn’t use any of Finn’s music – not even samples – and precious few of his lyrics, so I wonder if it was really necessary to say they were the same song (which also means Neil gets a cut from publishing rights). But overall, a nice package put together as a treat for the fans, and as a means of raising awareness for a worthy cause.
Released by: Parlophone / EMI
Release date: 1998 (“Sinner” & “She Will Have Her Way”) / 2002 (“Can You Hear Us”)
