With the two year anniversary of the Oct. 4, 2019, release of FINNEAS’ debut EP fast approaching and his culminating successes this year in collaboration with his sister, Billie Eilish, it felt overdue to dive into the deluxe version of Blood Harmony.
The album opens with “I Lost a Friend,” a song heavy with the prospect of a friendship never had. This idea is more often heard in songs about romantic relationships that never happened, which makes this song feel refreshingly different. The way it unpacks the frustrating realization that your simplistic, positive interpretation of a friendship is one-sided is well done. It very well encapsulates how a friend breakup can feel worse than a romantic breakup.
“Shelter” describes a relationship that the angel on your shoulder tells you is a bad idea, but the euphoria of the good moments you have make it easy to ignore the red flags. FINNEAS sings about needing a shelter from said relationship, which he has written as a metaphor about a storm but still being OK with its inevitably dramatic end. It feels like dancing in your living room during a power outage despite a storm approaching.
The chorus of track three, “Lost My Mind,” caught my attention as it asks, “Am I in your head / Half as often as you’re on my mind?” This very accurately describes the anxiety and nerves at the start of a relationship. All in all, this song does a great job of going through the journey of your time with someone you loved and is a classic breakup song.
Despite its context, “I Don’t Miss You at All,” is an upbeat break from the slower sadness of the first few songs of this album. It goes through the motions of trying to convince yourself you’re over someone, even though you’re not. He does a great job of capturing someone knowing that, eventually, they’ll actually be over someone but, for now, you can’t let go of small things you miss about them.
Listening to “Partners in Crime” elicits a specific type of sad feeling. It adds a metaphor to loving someone from the time you became friends until after your romantic relationship ended. The feelings that arise when you run into someone from your past can be very complex, but FINNEAS unpacks them well.
The upbeat and playful song, “Let’s Fall In Love for the Night,” romanticizes the highlights of having a one-night-stand type of relationship with someone. Hearing it is like listening to a short film about two people being in their “20s talkin’ 30s s---” because I think it normalizes how nice it can be to talk about the future with someone, even if you find yourself getting overly caught up in doing so, which is something I do all the time. This is definitely at the top of my favorites list for this album.
If you’re ever in a dark place because of feeling lonely, “Die Alone” is the perfect track, ironically, to make you feel less alone. It details how ethereal it can feel to find a person who makes the journey back to happiness feel possible. The intense tone of the song emphasizes the importance of having people you can trust to be there for you when you’re going through something tough. This is something I’ve started to fully grasp over the past couple of years, and this song validated the emotions of going through that for me.
Moving on to the bonus tracks, “Break My Heart Again” is beautifully heartbreaking. FINNEAS’ storytelling in this song makes it hurt your heart even more. The lyrics in the first half of it are ingeniously written like texts or a phone call going through the protagonist’s inner monologue of their breakup, with the chorus reiterating that this was a relationship that already failed once and, after reconciliation, has come to a finite end. The modern day breakup is portrayed excellently in this song, and I will most likely be crying to it at some point.
The final bonus track is an alternate version of track six,“Let’s Fall In Love for the Night (1964).” It is just as good as the original, but instead of just feeling like a short film, it specifically feels like one set in the 1960s that’s centered around an upcoming high school dance that the main character wants to ask their recently single crush to go to with them.
Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this album. If FINNEAS’ talents weren’t already apparent in his work with his sister, this EP should make them crystal clear. His writing is fantastic, his voice is wonderful and music enthusiasts should expect great things from any of his future projects.
Tate Raub is a sophomore studying strategic communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Tate know by tweeting her @tatortot1310.
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