Liam Finn - FOMO

Liam Finn’s been a busy chap since dropping his debut, I’ll Be Lightning, back in 2007. With multiple world tours with the likes of Wilco and Pearl Jam, and fingers in half a dozen musical pies (unfortunately the less said about BARB, last year’s collaboration with the wonderful Lawrence Arabia amongst others, the better), Finn The Younger generally takes full advantage of the opportunities offered by some fortuitous family connections.

Which is not to say that he hasn’t proven himself as a solid performer in his own right. His debut contained some lovely moments, imparting with manic energy a vital sense of the world opening up. Such points are few on angst-fuelled second album FOMO (= Fear Of Missing Out), the prevailing mood instead being one of subdued melancholy, occasionally riven by a barely contained agitation. A prime example is first single ‘The Struggle’, in which Finn is perhaps aiming towards the misanthropic excesses of uncle Tim’s darker moments but instead comes off, well, adolescent. It’s a problem that also besets ‘Little Words’: “desire / now it has gone / you’re pretty much dead to me”. Wow… Harsh. That said, he never lets you forget his talent: ‘Roll of the Eye’ is excellent, ‘Cold Feet’ is a surprisingly upbeat slice of power pop, and ‘Chase The Seasons’ possesses all the self-deprecating generosity so conspicuously absent elsewhere.

Given the length of the shadows he’s working under (Liam is not Neil, nor should he be expected to be), it’s unsurprising that Finn has a few insecurities to shake out. But by the time FOMO hits frenetic album closer ‘Jump Your Bones’ he’s managed to convince you that though he’s not quite there yet, it’s only a matter of time.


First published in The Brag, Iss. 417, June 20th 2011