Craig Finn Announces New Solo Album

Partisan Records releases Craig Finn’s new album, I Need A New War arriving Friday, April 26. The third album in a trilogy (following 2015’s Faith in the Future and 2017’s We All Want The Same Things), I Need A New War once again sees Finn expertly chronicling our complex, often confusing, modern era, drawing deeply felt character studies about regular people trying to respond to extraordinary times, attempting to find connection whilst wondering how to keep pace with a world moving faster than they are. The LP further finds Finn focusing his lens on New York City – his home for the last 18 years.

“Going in, I saw this record as the third part of a trilogy,” says Finn. “Thematically, this was the third group of songs that I had written about smaller moments - people trying to stay afloat in modern times, attempting to find connection, achieving tiny triumphs and frustrating let downs in their day to day lives.”

Finn’s fourth solo LP was recorded throughout 2018 at The Isokon in Woodstock, NY with producer Josh Kaufman and engineer D. James Goodwin, both of whom teamed with Finn on his widely acclaimed previous solo releases. In addition, the album features musical contributions from many of his regular solo collaborators, including Kaufman, horn master Stuart Bogie (Antibalas), pianist Sam Kassirer, vocalists Annie Nero and Cassandra Jenkins, and drummer extraordinaire Joe Russo.

“Perhaps forward motion is everything,” says Finn. “The characters in the songs on this record, and the last two, are trying to keep up and keep their heads above water. They succeed or they don’t, but their stories are the tales of their attempts at pushing ahead. And so, with my own push forward, I feel lucky and excited to be sharing these songs and stories.”

Perhaps best known as the singer of The Hold Steady, Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New York City. With his highly descriptive lyrical style and a defining focus on narrative, Finn has crafted whole worlds for the people in his songs to exist within. After five critically acclaimed albums with The Hold Steady, 2012 saw Finn release his first solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes prompting The AV Club to write, “As a solo artist, Finn has created a new world of characters and songs...working in new sonic territory while still sounding like the same old storyteller obsessed with falls from grace and calls for redemption.”

Finn will support I Need A New War with a North American and European live schedule. He tours the UK in support of Brian Fallon on the following dates.

5 FEB 2019 / UK / Newcastle / Wylam Brewery*

6 FEB 2019 / UK / Edinburgh / The Queen’s Hall*

7 FEB 2019 / UK / Manchester / Albert Hall*

8 FEB 2019 / UK / London / Union Chapel*

9 FEB 2019 / UK / London / Union Chapel*

22 FEB 2019 / UK / Cambridge / The Junction*

23 FEB 2019 / UK / Brighton / St George’s Church*

24 FEB 2019 / UK / Bath / Komedia*

25 FEB 2019 / UK / Cardiff / Tramshed*

26 FEB 2019 / UK / Manchester / Albert Hall*

27 FEB 2019 / IE / Dublin / Academy*

8 MAR 2019 / UK / London / Electric Ballroom / The Weekender^

9 MAR 2019 / UK / London / Electric Ballroom / The Weekender^

10 MAR 2019 / UK / London / Oslo / The Weekender^

* supporting Brian Fallon

^ with The Hold Steady