Fink – Resurgam (sealed UK import)

Fin Greenall, known professionally as Fink, is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and disc jockey born in Cornwall and currently based in Berlin and London. From 1997 to 2003, he focused on electronic music and DJ’d internationally, releasing in 2000 his debut album Fresh Produce on Ninja Tune. Since the 2006 release of his album Biscuits for Breakfast, the name Fink has also referred to the recording and touring trio fronted by Greenall himself, completed by Guy Whittaker (bass) and Tim Thornton (drums).Most recently, he has written in collaboration with John Legend, Banks, Ximena Sarinana and Professor Green. With Amy Winehouse, he co-wrote the song “Half Time”, which appears on Winehouse’s posthumous collection Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

Resurgam. Decoded from its Latin origins, the moniker for Fink’s latest album bears a clear message ‘to rise again’. With each of their previous records Fink have undoubtedly progressed their sound but the adjustment has always been made in subtle increments. So, as the band transition through their second decade, the desire to reshape and renew their sound is both exciting and commendable.

Resurgam stirs with its title track. Tim Thornton’s acoustic drums crackle under Guy Whitaker’s gurgling bass and a sense of welcome unease looms large. At minute two the cymbals kick into reverse and a haunting organ scratches the surface. For a split-second Radiohead’s 10/4 masterpiece ‘Everything in its Right Place’ sputters in the chord sequence only to dissolve into 6 minutes of sinister caustic trip-hop.

‘Day 22’ is up next and injects a groove into the fog. As the sub-bass pulses, detuned strings and distorted keys evoke film-noir terror. “These blood-shot eyes that gave me away”. Twilight prowl accelerates into haunting flight, as the song crashes to its close on a wave of digital churn.

For a band that set out their stall across a trilogy of sun-kissed folk records, track three and lead single ‘Cracks Appear’ feels much more familiar. Melodically the view is all sunset but the piano refrain and delayed guitars give a nod to the more ethereal horizons that occupied Perfect Darkness and Hard Believer.

MINT SEALED.