Finian McKean


Waiting for the full-length Shades Are Drawn to arrive, I honestly didn't know what to expect from Finian McKean. Would it sound like the sublimely languorous "Shades Are Drawn," or would it be more akin to "Black Hole," a more paranoid rocker? I preferred the former - I can remember hearing it for the first time, reveling when it broke into its wide-open, sunny groove. It made me think of an old standby, kind-of-Elephant-Six-ers Summer Hymns, not so much as a reference for its sound, but for the reaction it stirred in me.

I'm happy to say the record doesn't really sound like one or the other. It's varied and interesting while maintaining a charmingly scruffy identity. One minute McKean's impressing with genuine classic rock riffs, and the next it's pure pop bliss. It's a blend of styles, but none of it feels put-on or affected. "Nuthin' Matters" is a good example of this: you may have heard it before but its immediate likeability, its familiarity, makes that irrelevant. It's a tune you can truly enjoy, it doesn't take a certain mood and it doesn't take close listening for it to reveal itself. Give it a try.


From Shades Are Drawn (buy)

Finian McKean - Shades Are Drawn

Finian McKean - Nuthin' Matters

Enjoy!