Always Been: Vinyl LP

Pre-Order Item. Release Date Subject to Change.
Label: Tamarac
Release Date: 4th April

Probably said this for a few songwriters but honestly there isn't a better storyteller in the game than Craig Finn, every track is a little Cormac McCarthy or Bukowski tale of ordinary misfits just trying to make it in the world. Of course the music is pure Americana gold as per but with added Adam Granduciel on production adding that extra air-punching epic and a guest vocal slot from longtime Finn Fan Sam Fender.

Craig Finn returns with Always Been, his first solo album since 2022. The album was produced by Finn’s long time friend Adam Granduciel, the principal of The War on Drugs. Always Been is direct both in music and title. As Finn says, “I’ve always been Craig Finn.”

Recorded throughout 2024 at One Cue Studio in Burbank, CA, Always Been features a host of musicians, including many of Granduciel’s bandmates in The War on Drugs. Kathleen Edwards and Sam Fender provide guest vocals. The musical result is distinctive, purposeful, and commanding.

This is perhaps Finn’s most narrative record yet. It tells the story of a man who becomes a clergyman despite a lack of faith. The songs detail his rise, fall, and eventual redemption, while also shining a light to sharply reveal the other characters that populate the world he moves through.

Always Been is Finn’s sixth solo record and stands alongside his nine albums with The Hold Steady. With his last solo release, A Legacy of Rentals, receiving year-end accolades from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Aquarium Drunkard and more, Always Been arrives as an exciting next step for this prolific storyteller and songwriter.