FINK – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 5.7.24
Resident Music is home to arguably the hottest ticket in town when they stage their in-store events. Smoothly run and much sought after they provide the opportunity to get up close and personal with your favourite artist, usually after a short in-store set or talk. A purchase of an album will usually secure you a place for yourself with the opportunity to buy additional tickets for friends or loved ones to share the experience with you.
A brief chat with the artist in question and you can have your vinyl, CD, cassette, or book signed along with a little interaction with the creator behind your new purchase, what’s not to love? Having run for several years now the front-of-house staff including a sound tech ensure that the whole event runs like clockwork with the orderly queues outside seldom waiting long before being ushered inside for their chance to experience a little magic.
This was my second time officially at one of these events to report back to you here, but I’m guessing my tenth or eleventh as a music fan. I try not to come too often as I always end up buying yet another album or book for my already groaning shelves, restraint is not one of my middle names.
This however was not an in-store I was going to miss, even if it meant a late arrival across East Sussex for a music festival. I have been a fan of Fink since 2009’s ‘Sort Of Revolution’ album, which is still firmly on my constant rotation list. The one-time Brighton Resident ‘Fink’ aka ‘Fin Greenall’ had proven elusive to me, not for lack of touring, but for some reason or another my schedule had never aligned with tour dates, so I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go in a hurry.
Unusually for the Resident, there was a short delay whilst they made sure that all the guests for the short set followed by a signing by Greenall were happy with the set-up for the early evening event. This event was at absolute capacity and there was a question as to whether or not all ticket holders would be allowed access. However, no one needed to have worried as all ticket holders were given space in the shop’s interior with room to move and there were smiles aground when Fink appeared to fervent applause only a few minutes later than scheduled.
Apologising for the slight delay as he took his seat Greenall was happy to be on familiar terms. Fink cautioned the audience that this was one of the first times they would be performing the material from the new album ‘Beauty In Your Wake’. He advised the audience that they would play four songs from the album. Depending on how that went and they might extend the set of six, with the implication being that the last two might be older material. He also said that if it looked like they (he was joined by a member of the ‘Fink Trio’ Tim Thorton) engaged in extreme concentration, it was because they were. These were after all new songs that the artist was getting used to playing live for an audience. He needn’t have worried as the delivery was flawless and the sound as near to perfect as you can get in a space that isn’t a purpose-built venue space.
Asking the Resident sound engineer Archie to tweak the sound ever so slightly, it was to my mind impossible to tell that these songs had only been performed barely a few times, some not at all. I have bonged the album a few times before arrival at the store and since the event and the songs were as near as damn it is a duplicate of how the sound on the album.
Starting with the first track on the album, ‘What Would You Call Yourself’. Greenall and Thornton held the audience in the palm of their hands from the second the first string was strummed. Had there been no music from Fink you would have been able to hear a pin drop, so still was the audience. Every song played in the set was delivered with a sound as crisp and accomplished as on the record itself. The harmonies were beautiful and smooth, Greenall’s voice as always husky, but not abrasive.
Without pause the duo segued into the next song on the album, ‘The Only Thing That Matters’, featuring the lyric that gives the album its title, ‘Beauty In Your Wake’. Greenall has said in interviews that he has yet to determine what the album title means. He has said that it has changed since he wrote it, and it has come to mean something entirely different to him now. The band have even started a competition on social media for fans to tell Greenall what they think the phrase means. For me, after a fair few listens it means “the memory of the beauty left when someone you love leaves”, in writing that here I have probably scuppered my chances of winning though.
Every note struck was audible, as was every word sung, this doesn’t always happen, and it pleases me when it does. The applause at the end of the second track drowned out what Greenall said for a short while, “…I told you I would have to concentrate, It’s tense!”. Waiting for the applause to die, he thanked the audience before asking for the sound to be turned down. “So demanding, listen to me I sound like a right Diva!” He paused before speaking again, “I’m a bit nervous about this one as I haven’t completed it.” cue laughter from the audience, “You Got This!” one audience member shouted. “We’re in Brighton, they’re forgiving,” said Greenall, I thought perhaps with a slight grin and a wink.
The third song of the set was a later track from the new album ‘One Last Gift’. Featuring a slower build than the previous tracks it builds with a repetition of the main lyric. The outro featured a soft play-out. When the music finally stopped you could hear the breath of the audience as they took in air softly as if they were so enraptured that they had forgotten to take a breath. The new album is currently available via all good record stores and media players of your choice.
Fink:
Fink (Fin Greenall) – vocals + guitar
Tim Thorton – backing vocals + guitar
Fink setlist included:
‘What Would You Call Yourself’ (from 2024 ‘Beauty In Your Wake’ album)
‘The Only Thing That Matters’ (from 2024 ‘Beauty In Your Wake’ album)
‘One Last Gift’ (from 2024 ‘Beauty In Your Wake’ album)
‘TBC’ (from 2024 ‘Beauty In Your Wake’ album)
