Always Been

Craig Finn

Released on 4/4/25 by Tamarac
Main artists: Craig Finn
Genre: Alternative & Indie

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Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs) are storytellers expert at infusing grittiness into their authentic tales. Their reverence for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen comes through in the emotional narratives they create with vivid characters informed by self-image. Matching Finn and Granduciel as artist and producer respectively makes so much sense it's easy to wonder why it hasn't happened before. While both are wisely ambiguous about using the '80s term "heartland rock" to describe their music, if the earnestness fits, then wear it well.

In Always Been, Finn's third solo album, the Springsteen echoes reverberate from the first lines of the opening track, "Bethany." Finn sets the scene for a character straight out of Born To Run: "In the later afternoon it sort of softens on the avenue/ I'm wasting the remainder of the day." Riding on the kind of lush modern rock style you'd expect when the balance of The War on Drugs are the backing band, the tuneful "People of Substance," with guest vocals from Katheen Edwards, zeroes in on Finn doing his best talky Petty impression. "Dana, I don't drink nearly as much/ One or two nights of the week at the most/ I know I used to be such a monster/ And this city's still lousy with ghosts," he sings.

The troubled-but-still thrashing-for-meaning protagonist continues to come upon minor epiphanies in "The Man I've Always Been" ("Honestly I've been a couple people/But no one that I'd want to be again"), and small, dark details blossom in the financially precarious relationship in "Postcards": "Watching Home & Garden shows/ With Smirnoff 7-Up/ I'm the guy that empties all the ashtrays." Granduciel's guitar is a flavorful presence throughout, especially on the finely- nuanced acoustic mini epics. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Always Been

Craig Finn

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