Resurgam. Fink

Someone on a mission Fink seems to be. His second album in 2017 sees the light of day and both are memorable. So it is possible to produce more than one album a year and be consistent after all.

This spring Fink released an album filled with self-penned blues songs, that was favourably reviewed on this blog. (Read on here if you like to find out more: http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2017/03/finks-sunday-night-blues-club-vol-1-fink.html) Now Resurgam, which does not necessarily mean a giant leap between styles. The album is freer as Fink does not pin himself down to one idiom.

Where the two albums meet, is the atmosphere and the down to basics production. 'Resurgam' is also the name of the song the album opens with. It is the musical equivalent of an uprising. They all start small with more and more people latching on until its a surge, a wave that pushes away everything in front of it. In 'Resurgam' Fink adds instrument after instrument, playing with ever more gusto. The strong point of the song is that there is no rush, no hurry. The song moves forward as an unstoppable force, in one pace, dark and brooding but ever hopeful of the positive ending. "I will rise up, I will rise again". No matter how many times it takes. All 8.35 minutes of the song are used to make the point.

My introduction to Fink was somewhere in the 00s, where, I think my ex-colleague and erstwhile WoNo Magazine contributor Inge pointed me to the album 'Biscuits For Breakfast'. I lost sight of Fink later on, until I received his blues album earlier this year. Also the second album of this year is to my taste.

Resurgam mixes several musical styles. The basis could be called blues, without using the standard blues idiom, let alone the 12 bar blues. In feel certainly the essence of the blues is present in a song like 'Day 22'. From there Fink starts his work, with rhythm, electronics and traditional instruments. So it can be that I hear an influence from Massive Attack and triphop. The addition of an electric guitar, live drums and bass, makes the song far more energetic, while keeping the triphop atmosphere. The result can be heard in a song like 'Cracks Appear', as far as I'm concerned one of the flagships of Resurgam.

Fin Greenall totally surprises me when everything is stripped away and there's just a piano and a voice. The mildly rough voice of Greenall brings 'Word To The Wise' totally alive. The kind of ballad that cuts through everything to catch the listener at his most vulnerable. A few strings that enter the song late, make the point that was already made, stand out some more.

Resurgam keeps impressing me from this moment on. Whether it is an acoustic guitar that is in the lead ('Not Everything Was Better In The Past'), electronics and beats ('The Determined Cut') or an electric guitar ('Godhead') the compositions stand out. The songs on the album mostly have been stripped to the bone it seems, after which only what was really necessary was put back in place, allowing the listener to hear the bare essence of Resurgam and Fink.

With his new album Fink impresses me. I am truly curious how our relationship is going to develop over the coming months. For now the album is on the longlist for my end of year list.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Cracks appear' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy31vJQPPk0