The American singer-songwriter’s sophomore effort is a meditation on love and pain wrapped in summery indie pop.
Finneas O’Connell is not nearly as ubiquitous as his much more familiar sister, Billie Eilish, but he has willingly chosen to work in her shadow rather than be stuck in it.
On top of being the leading man on Eilish’s production team since the beginning of her career, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter has quietly and carefully cultivated his own musical identity in the indie pop space over the past few years.
From the start, his music has been tinged with a melancholy flavour. His debut EP, Blood Harmony from 2019, spins tales of love’s complicated push-pull dynamic over soft pianos. He embraces the gloom even more on his ironically-named debut album Optimist, a dark lamentation on love, loss, and the state of the world.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, FINNEAS explained that his first works were “really just [him] in a room, alone, doing everything.” His second full-length album, For Cryin’ Out Loud!, was his first time calling upon others to collaborate with him on his music.
Perhaps reflective of this collaboration is the fact that the record trades lonely energy for more upbeat tunes. Even though the sadness still runs strong through FINNEAS’s storytelling, a hefty portion of the tracklist features infectious guitars and drums that can instantly lift a mood.
For Cryin’ Out Loud! incorporates the artist’s trademark bittersweetness in a more subtle way; the infectious rhythms are so boppy that it’s easy to forget that FINNEAS is lamenting love’s complications just as much as he’s always done. “You’re wearing me out, but I love you the same,” he sings on the title track amid snare and brass.
The track was fittingly chosen as the album’s lead single — it’s absolutely the standout both musically and thematically, a perfect demonstration of an unhealthy roller-coaster relationship that’s exhausting yet intoxicating.
This is the ultimate goal of the album: conveying the turmoil of toxic love disguised in happiness. Each upbeat track is followed by a slow emotional ballad — summery “Cleats” is paired with the brooding “Little Window;” danceable “2001” precedes soft “Same Old Story;” FINNEAS even alternates tone mid-song with the track “Sweet Cherries,” a two-parter that takes a sharp turn from an exciting chase to a failing relationship.
Though a compelling metaphor, this choice is a double-edged sword. While the constant back-and-forth supports the album’s overarching themes, the emotional whiplash between tracks is a bit too jarring. The melancholic tracks are too slow and sleepy to be truly impactful. A notable exception is the penultimate track, “Family Feud,” a simple and moving guitar song dedicated to Billie Eilish.
However, these gripes do little to detract from the record’s true merit. For Cryin’ Out Loud is well worth a listen, especially for those uninitiated to FINNEAS. The artist-producer purposefully stays out of the limelight to prioritize earnestness over numbers, and his individual artistry is just as strong as the music he creates for others around him.
Trial Track: For Cryin’ Out Loud!
Score: 8/10
