DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
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Album Reviews with Ian Sinclair
IAN SINCLAIR reviews Craig Finn's I Need A New War, Son Volt's Union, and David Ian Roberts's Travelling Bright
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
Craig Finn
I Need A New War
(Partisan Records)
★★★★
PRESENTED as the final part of a trilogy alongside Faith In The Future (2015) and We All Want The Same Things (2017), the fourth solo record from The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn is another brilliant showcase of his inspired songwriting skills.
His most downbeat set yet, the songs are de facto short stories, full of vividly drawn characters “trying to stay afloat in modern times, attempting to find a connection, achieving tiny triumphs and frustrating let downs,” Finn notes.
People move to, and get lost in, the big city, bars are frequented, things get “druggy.” packages are collected — mundane tales suffused with an enticing emotional depth by the Midwestern master lyricist.
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