“Criminal” by Jerad Finck
The first few notes of the title track “Criminal” by Jerad Finck were pleasant to listen to. Catchy enough to want to listen to more, the album progressed with intertwining, slightly ethereal sounds, and pleasantly refreshing introspective lyrics sung by a thoughtful and melancholic sounding singer and/or songwriter collaboration.
The matter of fact tone to the singer’s quest to find the “good life” encourages those around him to not believe that the “good life” is living materialistically. As the song progresses it sounds as though he has meaningful alternatives for him and anyone paying attention to what he has to say, to follow and to further explore what a “good life” is. Additional insightful lyrics sung with seemingly equal amounts of hope, encouragement and a little disdain for the superficial pursuits in life, provides a good amount of depth. It has a nicely flowing rhythm as well.
My next step after listening to the first few songs was to read the press release for the new EP. Detailed and varied in the types and amounts of information pertaining to Jerad Finck, it informs readers about the numerous and constant touring schedules that have kept him quite busy. His earlier acclaimed successes have now afforded him an opportunity to sign an exclusive management deal with Milk & Honey. The latter represents some of the world’s most talented and gifted songwriters, producers and artists. The successful firm is based in Los Angeles enabling the firm to work with “major ad agencies, television networks, film studios and music supervision houses to place music with visual media.” What I gather from this information is that Jerad Finck has risen highly to the level of his successful contemporaries within the firm’s many endeavours. While touring has been non-stop he has still been able to connect in a meaningful way with his fans on the stage as well as off. While reading the press release, I wasn’t sure how to comprehend with the level of intimacy shared in the song “Pieces of April.”
It was almost as though I couldn’t believe the honesty and pain resonating from the song was happening. I am almost ashamed to admit that I at first ignored parts of the song because I would have had to stop, listen and feel the truthful and unabashed melancholy expressed soulfully in this very serious song. It made me want to shake my head in disbelief because I have never experienced this depth of mutual melancholy from a song before. Excellent in its conveying the singer’s despair, disappointment, and personal reflections about what he might have done differently to not have ended up in such a miserable spot, the song surprises again with a level of peaceful beauty that made me think of someone recovering from intense and painful circumstances.
It was almost tempting at first glance to dismiss this EP as most likely being fluff geared to teenage girls. This would have been a big mistake. This potential mistake is stopped well ahead of time as Jerad Finck successfully draws you into the songs with his skilful and emotive voice fluctuations and lyrical content both insightful and excellent in the conveyance of honest vulnerability.
REVERBNATION: https://www.reverbnation.com/jeradfinck
Review by Sheila Tulok
