Finneas - Optimist

“If I could see the future, I never would believe her,” Finneas postulates on anthemic album opener ‘A Concert 6 Months From Now’, a cerebral introduction to what at first appears to be a throwaway musing over a pre-pandemic society, but opens the floor for far bigger questions addressed throughout this debut album. ‘The 90s’ echoes the era’s penchant for telling stories, while ‘What They’ll Say About Us’ delivers an arena-size chorus that delicately builds with swelling 808s and dampened drums. The songwriting is faultless, with each track ebbing and flowing carefully, controlled by his minimal synth library and sparse textures that echo the lightness of his GRAMMY-winning work on sister Billie Eilish’s reductive pop tunes. Finneas’ layered vocals lend emphasis and allure to ballads ‘Love Is Pain’ and ‘Someone Else’s Star’, sitting neatly on either side of the snarling ‘Medieval’; a dark pop saga that delves into the blunt reality of sudden fame. Finneas is careful not to just emulate the work he’s best known for, injecting stronger senses of rhythm and a more layered approach to his songs, and he infuses his lyrical content with contemplative studies of the human condition. ‘Happy Now’ particularly addresses the overbearing feeling of constant dissatisfaction with one’s life. What begins as a deeply personal commentary eventually evolves into a world-renowned producer taking the attention away from his ability to refine others’ work, alternately placing the spotlight over his own voice, with its startling ability to carry a tale of kindred love, loss and the weight of fame.