In 2015, Finneas O’Connell wrote a song for his band, brought it to his sister, and the Internet took by storm. This was the kick start to Billie Eilish’s music career, with her brother FINNEAS helping her write, produce, and mix their music from a career of writing and performing music for movies like Turning Red and The Fallout. He continues his success with his latest album, For Cryin’ Out Loud!
His latest album was released on October 4, 2024 to great reviews. People on Reddit seem to have enjoyed the album, even commemorating FINNEAS’s growth from his freshman album, Optimist. People commenting and raving how the album has a familiar and almost nostalgic feel, and when diving into the album itself, is easy to see.
The album opens with a very melancholic, yet beautifully sonic first track. It is something akin to his first album, but also has the sound and emphasis found on a Billie Eilish track. It is not only the first track that feels like this, as even songs like “Cleats” don’t share similar orchestral and epic sounding scores. They share the melancholic melodies with infectious rhythms and instrumentals.
The title track alone, which was released two months before the album’s release on August 8 of this year. The song flows from being pensive, the instrumentation being closed and almost close to the chest, to opening up in the choruses to let FINNEAS’s vocals come through, and trumpets accentuating and pushing him through the front, only for the song to come down in the second half, and come back with just as much force as the first chorus.
With FINNEAS’s vocal layers, the sounds of trumpets, along with a band behind him, to help emphasize the words he is saying, makes for the end of the song to be both empathetic and emotional, even when the song drops for a split second, only to come back in with all instruments. The song’s polarity does well for it reaching out and appealing to audiences. So much so that FINNEAS has performed it on The Kelly Clarkson Show. This is not the only song to have this great of a reaction.
The day the album was released, FINNEAS released Lotus Eater, releasing it as both a standalone single for the album and a single. The song has garnered the same attention as the title track, enough that FINNEAS could perform it on the Jimmy Fallon Show on October 10. The songs even share similar aspects to one another.
While the verses of the song do not share a sense of pensiveness in the way the instrumentation sounds. The track still shares a very nostalgic emotion, while maintaining that energy and catchiness to give the song a danceable feel. Along with the performance in this song being just as good as the title track, vocally FINNEAS performance in this track alone is powerful enough to make up for the lack of trumpets to emphasize it. His vocal layers and production are a surround sound to make the listener feel elated while listening. Even when the lead guitar in the track is rather dissonant, FINNEAS’s ingenious song writing blends it in and adds an extra spice to what would be a rather simple and catchy track.
While his songs have yet to hit Billboard’s top tracks, just as Sabrina Carpenter. Whether you are already a fan of FINNEAS and his work, or are only familiar with his work with his sister, if you are a fan of catchy hooks, melodies or even indie music, For Cryin’ Out Loud! will find its way from your ears to your heart.
