Rediscovering Talent

New Zealand singer-songwriter Liam Finn, who is promoting his latest studio album FOMO, plays at Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live on 18 September. Co-producer of FOMO Canadian-born Burke Reid helped Finn avoid the trap of creating an album that was merely I’ll Be Lightning, Part 2. Given its dynamic range of sound and instrumentation, you’d never guess FOMO was written and played by one man, unless you’ve witnessed one of Finn’s solo gigs, which feature him bouncing between instruments, piling on loops and layers and working up the sweat of several men with his head-shaking, body-quaking performance style. “I made I’ll Be Lightning completely on my own, engineered and produced it, and that was quite a cathartic process at the time. This time I wanted to make a record that was truly reflective of where I’m at now,” Finn says. “Making this record, I got to rediscover myself.”