FINNEAS is groovy and charming on sophomore album For Cryin Out Loud!
Writing an album is one thing. Writing an album that doesn’t overstay its welcome, but effortlessly shows the artist’s evolution and songwriting abilities is another, and FINNEAS achieves both in his collection of ten expertly paired back but fresh, groovy, and sultry tracks from his new album For Cryin’ Out Loud! While the music industry can feel oversaturated at times, finding the true gems that understand songwriting and can craft a cohesive, yet still inventive and creative body of work is what makes music so special, and impossible to live without.
For Cryin' Out Loud! album cover photographed by Muriel Margaret @worldfamousmuriel
For Cryin’ Out Loud! is intimate and familiar but new and exciting at the same time. While FINNEAS explores a more groovy and jazz-inspired instrumental sound, he expands on his songwriting skills to deliver lyrics that tug at the heartstrings as per his signature but remain complimentary to the instrumentals throughout the album. “Starfucker” sets the tone as the opening track with a rich piano instrumental and intimate, but charged vocals. FINNEAS incorporates his signature experimental style with the building piano towards the end, giving listeners a taste of what they know and love, but at the same time, introducing them to his now elevated style. “What’s It Gonna Take To Break Your Heart?” kicks things into high gear as the springy electric guitar and bubbly drums create a relaxed, but cracking melody that draws on traditional Jazz and Blues sounds. FINNEAS’ musical influences and knowledge are apparent throughout the album as he approaches each song with a clear vision that pulls from familiar rhythms and patterns, and then carefully tweaks to add his unique flare.
“Cleats” combines what FINNEAS has thus far just teased. Upbeat drums and electric guitar combine with bright and smooth vocals and fun lyrics to create a song that feels like a warm spring morning or late summer afternoon. Feeling the hot sun on your skin as you approach a new season full of possibilities. FINNEAS explores the feeling of crushing on someone who is giving you mixed signals, but you cannot help feeling something for them: “You're often on her street / You don't know how to feel/You don't know how to sleep/Like it'll never heal/Your heart's still in the weeds / Straight off the soccer field/She’s still wearing her cleats.” No matter how hard you try, that person will always have an effect on you, and you’ll always wonder what could be or what could’ve been.
"Cleats" Official Music Video
For Cryin’ Out Loud! continues with a lyrical treasure in “Little Window.” FINNEAS flexes his songwriting skills in the most subtle way possible as he sings about hoping for more and hoping for better out of a relationship or for someone. Through the process of acknowledging that the present relationship is unlike how it was, he realizes and hesitantly accepts that despite his positive thinking, not everything can bask in a golden halo forever: “Honey, what's on your mind? / ‘Everything, all the time’ / Comedy forever/Laughing to yourself / Birds with bloody feathers / And no way you can help / Honey, I'm seeing signs / Everywhere, all the time.” The following track, “2001,” showcases a different side to FINNEAS’ songwriting skills as he plays with cheeky and sometimes flirty lyrics that will make you blush: “Honey, what you runnin' from? When you comin' back to bed?/Toss and turn it all night long with me instead/Honey, what you runnin' from? Where the hell you headed to?/Do you like the way I run after you?” Despite the obvious contrast in lyrics and theme between “Little Window” and “2001,” the combination of smooth, gentle, and jazzy instrumentals keep both songs and the album as a whole, tied together. Not too loose and not too tight. Just right.
“Same Old Story” brings listeners back to the world FINNEAS introduced in the first track, but he doesn’t shy away from returning to the soft, dreamy, and gentle vocals that he has become known for. The album's highlight is the experimental and effortlessly executed “Sweet Cherries.” No other song in the album is so aptly named, as “Sweet Cherries” features sexy and addictive vocals that are burning red and sticky like ripe cherries in summer. A groovy electric guitar instrumental contrasts the relaxed drums and combines with 70s-inspired backing vocals that lure the listener into the persona FINNEAS describes: “She'll break your heart with her hands tied / She's got a car waiting outside for you / You bought a house on a landslide / With a hell of a view / She likes it hot, likes it greasy / She says she's not, but she's easy for you / You’re on the rocks, she's on TV / With a key to your room.” The very character he describes is addictive and magnetic. You know she’s trouble, but you can’t help yourself. Where the song gets even better is in the abrupt but exciting switch-up halfway through when the instrumentals shift to a more dramatic piano ballad combined with pounding drums and a flirty guitar riff that chases an equally catchy piano riff to the end.
FINNEAS manages to expand further on the musical world he has created on the title track. Fun trumpet instrumentals throughout the song, while introduced late in the album, feel cohesive and like they have been there all along.
"For Cryin' Out Loud!" Official Music Video
As the oldest sibling, “Family Feud” tugs on my heartstrings a bit extra. FINNEAS captures the balancing act of feeling a massive responsibility to your younger sibling but also feeling, at times, lost in your own journey as he reflects on his relationship with younger sister Billie Eilish both professionally and as siblings. FINNEAS, through painstakingly truthful lyrics, learns to accept and forgive himself for the things he cannot control, but wishes he could: “And you're only twenty-two / And there's nothin' I can do / I made mistakes, you'll make 'em too / Part of me is part of you / Just a diffеrent shade of blue / Just a littlе family feud.”
FINNEAS concludes the album perfectly with “Lotus Eater,” a track more reminiscent of 90s and early 2000s rock and roll, that teases listeners with a taste of where he might go in the future. FINNEAS leaves listeners in an even state of being eager for more, but not feeling disappointed with what they received, a balancing act that is difficult to achieve.
Be sure to give For Cryin’ Out Loud! a listen and catch FINNEAS on tour until May of next year!
