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Finian Mckean, the wayward life
passenger at a junction stop, waiting
for the next train of life to come pick
him up. On Shades Are Drawn, folk
impulses meet pop context, broadcast from
Finian's den of iniquity in Brooklyn.
Its got a classical new england/Irish
folk backbone with footstomping rythyms.
There's bursts of Hindu mysticism. There's
pop contagiousness in some of these songs.
There's also lonely despair.
Stuck somewhere between the pop metropolitan
complex and the pastoral leanings of the
folk side of his music, Finian creates
an interesting hybrid of sounds that seem
like they wouldn't actually go together
well, but do. His lyrics make him sound
like he's somewhere between desolation
and validation. Stuck between making a
change and staying where he is.
What's interesting about Finian's story
right now is that he's out promoting himself.
Here's a great artist that climbed to
a level of noteriety in the Push Kings,
and now he's trying to use that to help
promote his PPK (post Push Kings) project.
He's out swimming in the internet waters,
dispatching the word from his Red Hook,
Brooklyn den of iniquity. And doing a
good job of it.
Shades Are Drawn
The album's opening track seems to be
the strongest. It's got this great echoey
wah wah guitar layer over the top that
comes off sounding like a sitar. It adds
a cool psychedelicious Hindu sound to
the song, a nice touch. Perhaps the most
insightful of all of Finian's meloncholy
songs on the album, as it seems to sum
up where he's at this point lyrically,
spiritually, musically. This is a convergence
of everything good that Finian's got going
in his writing style these days.
Black Hole
This is where a strong pop background
comes into play and rears its head. There's
a great sense of verse chorus verse trade
off here that play off the black hole
vibe, i.e. i'm in a black hole and I need
help getting out. The music itself is
lively and upbeat, which is juxtapositioned
against dark lyrics of helplessness and
darkness. Bright music, dark subject matter.
"I'm holding out my hand, take it...
if you don't I won't make it..."
Finian Mckean:
Shades Are Drawn Track List: 01 Shades are
Drawn
02 Oh My Heart Is Heavy
03 Black Hole
04 Little Beggar
05 Where No One Wants Me 06 Every
Day That Passes
07 Nuthin' Matters
08 Been Gone So Long
09 Small Request
10 Sometimes
11 Fortune Cookie
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