4 months ago 02nd Jul 15:54
The first time you hear the songs, you can’t wait to hear them a second time. That process continues until numbers like ‘first’ and ‘second’ become ‘forty fifth’ and ‘ninety eighth’. It’s an achievement made even more mesmerising when you come to witness what he does to the tracks in a live setting. The record, you soon realise, is not a way of setting the songs in stone. It’s simply one interpretation, relative to the space in time in which they were recorded, not the final be all and end all. Rather than going through the motions on a note for note rendition, the privileged attendee at a gig gets from Liam their own, often radically expanded or altered, unique version of a song to cherish for themselves in the knowledge that tomorrow night’s performance will sound different yet again.
So Liam shoots his own publicity photos, album artwork, and videos. He plays damn near everything on the album, and damn near everything live too. But the live shows would be vastly diminished in their impact if it weren’t for the vital role played by Eliza-Jane Barnes. Far from merely the effortlessly glamorous assistant you assume she might be before she unleashes that incredible voice of hers and deftly manipulates the vast array of looping and sampling equipment before bashing the living crap out of a defenceless few drums, watching her casually make awesome and hold steady whilst Liam threatens to get completely lost in the music is one of the many delights of a Liam Finn gig.
“Whenever I walk in and see just a guy and a guitar, I think ‘Here we go again.’ I want to give people something different”, thinks Liam, commendably. That he achieves that difference isn’t in any doubt - if ever the term ‘singer songwriter’ seemed woefully inadequate (offensive, even?) in describing an artist’s craft, it’s with Liam Finn. “I think the fact of doing this looping, one-man-band sort of thing really keeps you on your toes and keeps it fresh. The more you mess up, the more you’re forced to turn it into a good mess and people seem to respond more. I find it really stimulating. I just love the danger of it, really.”
He might claim that it was self consciousness about these very personal songs that stopped them from becoming band songs, but one glance at Liam on stage and you’ll notice that this is not the frame of a timid, introspective singer songwriter. Honestly, once the looping’s out the way, the J Mascis-aping guitar solo still squalling in to the distance whilst Liam stares at the drumkit, only he knowing what’s about to happen, you’ll not have seen a man attack a set of skins like this fella can since you first set eyes on Lightning Bolt. Though energetic, Liam Finn shows aren’t aggressive – they’re explosions of unadulterated joy, the physical manifestation of being in music for the right reasons.
And such feats were observed early on in that most notoriously difficult of locales to crack – the States, where Finn’s album began quietly selling thousands through DIY touring. Before long, surreal and Big Things started happening. Following a tip in ‘Rolling Stone’, in early 2008, a ‘David Letterman’ appearance ensued, and soon they all started phoning up – all those big, bizarre programmes where bands appear to zillions of viewers whilst laughing along awkwardly to scripted swipes. Instead, Liam, with guitar, drums and Eliza Jane in tow, looked like a defiant savage, passionately peddling the likes of debut single ‘Second Chance’ with a brutal yet vulnerable intensity that leapt out from beneath the throng of studio lighting. Starting with just guitar and voice, before extending to loops and percussion, it was a final wrestle on the drumkit amidst a chaotic whirlwind of sound, and then a sudden halt, which made Liam an overnight word-of-mouth hero. Letterman was baffled yet clearly overjoyed by the serene severity of the booking (seriously, watch the reaction on youtube). More TV personalities followed suit, eager to bottle the effect for viewers – ‘Craig Ferguson’, and rumours abound that ‘Conan O’ Brien’ is next up. A trip down to SXSW in Austin, Texas, stealing headline slots from The Lemonheads and performing no less than 9 packed shows to adoring and eager hordes didn’t hurt, shortly after – neither did the invitation to be a part of an sold out theatre tour with grunge veteran Eddie Vedder in April.
So, before barely even breaking into the second quarter of 2008, 52 shows had already been notched up. Plus it’s not just America that’s keen. The UK’s nearest equivalent one-stop-shop for musos on TV – ‘Later with Jools Holland’ – launched Finn’s work in fine fettle recently.
But now it’s time for some more intimate performances throughout the rest of at least certainly this year to introduce these wonderful songs to new people – environments which are a little closer, more personal than behind a screen. Besides, that’s how best to be ushered into the world of Liam Finn: personally. What may well follow are many repeat visits and listens, and maybe even that most sacred, if frightening of things – obsession. Trust us, he’s worth it.
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