Imagine it, you’re a minimalist Techno DJ spinning the vinyl at some of the country’s top clubs around the turn of the millennium. You’re rising through the ranks and then you sit down with a guitar and start making Indie music, releasing three albums of it since 2006. It’s not the usual route for the average musician, but for Fin Greenall, aka Fink, it’s worked pretty nicely.
He’s not forgotten his roots mind you, as he still earns quite the trade and some serious plaudits from working with the likes of John Legend, Professor Green and Amy Winehouse to name but three, having played a bit part in all of their success stories, but he himself and his albums have constantly been less “on the radar”. So, is 'Perfect Darkness' going to be the breakthrough that makes Fink join the upper echelons with those three?
In a word: Almost.
This album is dark, moody and haunted by shadows. It is a slither of the night where you can hear your own footsteps in the silence as you wander down the cobbled streets. It’s not a complete reimagining of Finks music since previous effort 'Sort of Revolution', more a continuation of the themes held within, but don’t get me wrong, that’s certainly not a bad thing. Opening with the mysterious title track 'Perfect Darkness', the album clearly wishes to take its time putting down its roots. It’s not going to blast into your ears at three hundred miles an hour. It lets you settle down, cosy up and just listen. This is an album that demands to be listened to, not ignored in the background as a soundtrack to your housework. This is a carefully crafted piece which gives you forty five minutes of a man who wishes to welcome you into his own musical highlight reel.
Fink could have had any pick of anyone to throw a bit of star power into this CD and, to his credit, he didn’t. This is a CD about him and his experiences, thoughts and feelings. He doesn’t need some of the stars he’s worked with in the past to create a CD just for the sake of sales. This is an album with a clearly defined start, beginning and end, and while it never grabs you by the throat, it certainly compels you to listen to it all, knowing it’s all heart and not for the sake of a cheeky windfall.
'Fear is like Fire' sounds basically like a lost track from 'The Bends'. While Greenall and Thom Yorke vocally couldn’t sound more different, you can imagine him singing it easily. A story of phobia set to a background of simple guitar chords with a little discord thrown in to make things sound deliberately uneasy before the crashing chorus interrupts and sends this song skywards. There are no wasted notes here (or in most other tracks actually).
If there is one thing this record isn’t though, it’s energetic. Not that it’s lazy or anything, but there’s little urgency, so anyone looking for a dance classic is going to be disappointed. It’s an ideal evening soundtrack to be enjoyed with a setting sun. It’s a delightfully enigmatic stroll through an alt-rock landscape where the simplistics of song is king. There is little need for any wayward knob twiddling or daft effects. This is all vocals, bass, guitar and drums with little fluff attached. Again, Fin could have added all sorts of crazy nonsense to it, but he’s been sensible, and working with the legendary Billy Bush has really paid off, even if the whole thing was recorded in less than three weeks.
This review would not be complete without mentioning the best song on the album though, 'Honesty'. A delightfully subtle passive-aggressive trawl through some wrong-doing Fin has experienced in his life. Accompanied only by the light addition of a bass drum and off-beat acoustic chords to start, it builds slowly but surely, feeling more impatient, angrier, and more outright emotional as it continues towards its crashing climax four minutes later.
This entire album smoulders from start to the 'Berlin Sunrise', another slow-burner that settles in and rounds up the record nicely. It never blazes, just keeps nice and warm from start to finish. A modern classic? Maybe, but an excellent journey nonetheless. Fink is a man with great talent and ambition and whether or not the album cements him as a force to be reckoned with in the charts will probably bother him little, but he has, not for the first time, created an exceptional audio experience that should be heard by all.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
He’s not forgotten his roots mind you, as he still earns quite the trade and some serious plaudits from working with the likes of John Legend, Professor Green and Amy Winehouse to name but three, having played a bit part in all of their success stories, but he himself and his albums have constantly been less “on the radar”. So, is 'Perfect Darkness' going to be the breakthrough that makes Fink join the upper echelons with those three?
.jpg)
.jpg)
