STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over
Album Reviews with Ian Sinclair
IAN SINCLAIR reviews Craig Finn's I Need A New War, Son Volt's Union, and David Ian Roberts's Travelling Bright
This thriller is a politically charged and morally complex dive into climate activism and police repression, judges JENNY FARRELL
Cat show killer, avenging the pawns, women hunt the Ripper, and running dry in the outback
The Bard reflects on sharing a bed, and why he wont go to Chelsea
MARY CONWAY applauds a new play that foresees the unscrupulous tactics of a future far-right minority government
RON JACOBS is moved to tears by an eloquent journal of heartfelt intensity and human portraiture
ROBERT OVETZ recommends a case study, from the University of Leicester, in their struggle against precarization, AI, privatisation, outsourcing, and work intensification in higher education
Craig Finn
I Need A New War
(Partisan Records)
★★★★
PRESENTED as the final part of a trilogy alongside Faith In The Future (2015) and We All Want The Same Things (2017), the fourth solo record from The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn is another brilliant showcase of his inspired songwriting skills.
His most downbeat set yet, the songs are de facto short stories, full of vividly drawn characters “trying to stay afloat in modern times, attempting to find a connection, achieving tiny triumphs and frustrating let downs,” Finn notes.
People move to, and get lost in, the big city, bars are frequented, things get “druggy.” packages are collected — mundane tales suffused with an enticing emotional depth by the Midwestern master lyricist.
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