Harper Finn – Silo Park (Warner NZ) (13th Floor Album Review)
Indie-pop singer Harper Finn gives us a dreamy journey of self-discovery in his debut album Silo Park. Expect catchy hooks, a wide range of instrumentation, and some tidy production.
Alright! Alright! I’ll address it. He’s Tim Finn’s son. If you close your eyes and listen really hard, I suppose you can make the connection between their voices. After a quick Google image search, I found a photo of him where he had the Tim Finn short curls, but currently he’s settled for the Chad Michael Murray buzzcut. I also hate it when musicians are unfairly compared or critiqued because of their famous parents. Let’s be clear here, you won’t find Split Enz and/or Before & After on this release. Harper Finn is doing is own thing.
And he is doing it well! Finn nabbed himself The Best Breakthrough Artist Award in 2021, following it up with his previous EP Newcomer to general acclaim. And, most recently, he’s been touring the world as the live pianist for Balu Brigada.
So, can he write a good song? Yes, he can. Silo Park is loaded with catchy melodies and lyrics that don’t sound out of touch with his audience. Just listen to the single Doves and you’ll see that this young man means business. It’s a range of relatively standard singer-songwriter numbers which you’ll find on this record. However, with the polished production, they’re endearing and pleasant to listen to. His most recent single, Satellite, reeks of radio friendly singalong. Harper Finn has clearly put a lot of effort into crafting these tunes.
The instrumentation on display is fairly standard of what you’d expect to find in an indie/alt-pop release. I must commend however the way that the audience is kept on their toes slightly with the wide range of vibes presented across this twelve-track LP. I was a big fan of the steady piano in Love & Loneliness. The wonderful minor chord and back-up vocals thrown into the middle eight of Broken Glass were a highlight too. And, East River’s eclectic sounds really upped the game of a simple pop song.
I also really like that he has opted to record this album on 16-track tape. It adds to the dreaminess in points. Acclaimed US musician Sam Evian took the role of production and I like the direction (I imagine) he has prodded Finn in.
Like most releases these days, Silo Park is boasted to harness the themes of self-discovery through change and isolation while living abroad (in this case, New York). Harper Finn doesn’t try and cram it down our throats like some other recent pop albums, and I like that I took my own interpretations away from the songs. They haven’t since changed after reading the press release.
Pleasant is the word that I would use (and have probably already used at points in this review) to sum up Silo Park. It is remarkably likeable. The melodies throughout the album are overall catchy and I found myself bopping my foot along to it with ease. I will be interested to hear more from Harper Finn in the future.
Oh, and you can too! He’s playing Double Whammy in Auckland on 20th November. He’ll then be turning up at my old local, Meow in Wellington on November 22nd.
Check him out!
Daniel Edmonds
Pre-save ‘Silo Park’ (out 31 October)
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