Neil Finn on the return of Crowded House: ‘I am ultimately very optimistic about the world’

As the band releases their first record in a decade, the New Zealand songwriter reflects on its influences - from Fleetwood Mac to Donald Trump

Neil Finn, New Zealand music's jovial elder statesman, is remembering his best friend and bandmate Paul Hester.

He recalls the Crowded House drummer holding Finn's baby son Liam up to the heavens, recreating a scene from the 70s TV show Roots; how Hester taught Liam's younger brother, Elroy, to play the drums. But Hester's gone now - he took his own life in 2005.