Craig Finn - I Need A New War (2019)

Craig Finn is the frontman of The Hold Steady, however he also an incredible singer-songwriter in his own right. His new solo album is called 'I Need A New War'. It is Craig's third solo record on Partisan (his fourth overall) and it cements him as one of today's most vital storytellers, among the ranks of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. It follows 2017's album 'We All Want The Same Things', which saw him described as a "master story-teller" (The Guardian) and "becoming an elder statesman of rock n' roll the right way" (The Line Of Best Fit). It received critical acclaim across the board, from Pitchfork ("a remarkable record"), to Q ("desperately moving"), Mojo ("his ability to put you right there is a gift") and more. 'I Need A New War' feels like another confident step forward from Craig. He tells the stories of people on the margins, focusing on characters who are lost and who have been left behind. There is nothing glamorous about their stories, it is a very "daytime" portrait of these characters. These are also the least American-specific songs that Craig has ever written.