Finn
The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own
Rating: 3.5
Label: Erased Tapes
Finn is not Finnish- it’s the nom de guerre of Patrick Zimmer, German multi-instrumentalist and, apparently, man of deep sorrows. On his U.S. debut (and third album thus far) The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own he presents us with 16 songs full and sweet and sad. They range from the simple and acoustic to the orchestral and dramatic, and there’s a deep melancholy in each track that hints at a grand story without ever revealing much.
Zimmer’s voice is multi-tracked over nearly every song (a few instrumentals like the strangely titled “(…)” are the exception- the only other time I’d seen parenthetical ellipses, they were tattooed on a girl) and stretches from a fragile falsetto to a deep mumble. Most of the time he lets himself rest in an almost girlish pitch, a kind of winsomeness that sets the tone for much of the album. The album’s press release claims that there’s underlying theatrical concept here, and a hidden spoken-word monologue divided into acts bolsters that statement. Frankly, it’s not necessary. Few of the lyrics have much in the way of specifics or detail, relying more on mood and simple, heartfelt sentiments. I prefer it that way, for the most part: conceptual music too often mistakes over-cerebral musings for sophistication.
Beginning with a sigh, “Half-Moon Stunned” is as simple as it is beautiful, a quiet acoustic guitar and the resigned lyrics “If I always please you not to fight/ I always please you not to die.” It nearly has the grandeur of Pink Moon-era Nick Drake, if it does add more theatricality. By the time chimes and a fanfare sweep in, the song’s almost over, but it wouldn’t need much more. The album is dominated by orchestral strings and acoustic guitars, with a brass section occasionally popping in to great effect, as on “Boy-Cott” and its instrumental sister “Girl-Cott.” The increasing layers of sound culminate in an emotional peak on “Julius Caesar,” one of the few tracks with any kind of time, place, or detail to latch onto. That’s not a complaint; I generally prefer the vagaries of vagueness to over-specificity.
To enjoy an album like The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own, you have to be comfortable with almost cinematic histrionics and arch, sorrowing lyrics like the admissions of “Dew” “It’s in your face, you cannot be cruel/ It’s in your voice, you are used to dew.” Fortunately, I am both. Zimmer has produced an album to be proud of, something that reaches for dramatic heights and occasionally reaches them. If he’s vague, I don’t mind. I can always paint whatever picture I want with his music.
by Nathan Kamal
