Finneas Baird O’Connell worked with several influential artists in recent years including Selena Gomez, Halsey, Tove Lo, Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, Khalid, Demi Lovato, Julia Michaels and JP Saxe.
However, his most notable collaboration has been with his pop star younger sister, Billie Eilish. His work co-writing and producing a number of her songs has led him to win eight Grammys, all of which were accumulated within the last two years. This is an accolade many artists have never accomplished.
As a result of his many achievements, his full-length album, Optimist, barely feels like a debut at all. The alternative singer-songwriter and producer has already established himself as a seasoned musician through his hits such as “Break My Heart Again,” “I Don’t Miss You at All” and “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”. FINNEAS’ has generated quite the fan base, and his followers have long awaited the release of his debut, which just so happened to be October 15, 2021.
Having been responsible for such highly-acclaimed works, there was an immense amount of pressure for his debut to be phenomenal. Critics, though, are deeming it anything but phenomenal and instead, just average, hollow and forced. However, the album is everything listeners who have grown to adore FINNEAS could expect. Fans should be highly satisfied with the overall production and the amount of thought put into it.
While FINNEAS claims to recognize his privilege and prevailing social issues, critics have called Optimist hollow for not appropriately discussing the systemic problems he addresses in his songs. Yet, loyal listeners know that FINNEAS has never succumbed to commercialization. It is evident even through the title, being that it is an oxymoron for what the album’s content truly entails.
Critics called the track titled, “The Kids Are All Dying,” “cringey,” unsolicited nonetheless because FINNEAS harshly insinuates that humankind is focused on all of the wrong things in life. In reality, he is pointing out that politicians are liars, schools are often on lockdown, and cancel culture is often uncalled for.
Undeniably, FINNEAS is right, and he admits to being part of the problem, noting “I know my pool is heated / Business class is where I'm seated / And I'm whiter than the ivory on these keys / I think too much about myself / Drink my wallet and drive my wealth.” Though some may not agree with his approach to these matters, the song encompasses great meaning.
Optimist is edgy, honest, political, and smooth, with a hint of upbeat synths in tracks like “Medieval,” “The 90s” and “How it Ends.”
The fifth track on the album, “The 90s,” is also highly critical of modern life. FINNEAS dissects the idea that the past was much more simplistic without the internet, where people were unable to find him with a simple search. Much of Gen-Z longs for a life lived in the past, making the song all the more appreciated amongst listeners.
It goes without saying that FINNEAS’ most prominent and praiseworthy tracks are ballads that are more heavy and gradual in nature. Tracks like this include “Love is Pain,” “Hurt Locker,” “Someone Else’s Star” and “What They’ll Say About Us.” All four songs are most synonymous with FINNEAS’ personality as a musician and discography up to this point.
“Hurt Locker,” is a thought-provoking, metaphorical track -- and categorically the best on Optimist. The song is a reference to war; hurt locker, a term derived from US military slang, meaning a place of deep pain and discomfort. It symbolizes FINNEAS’ battle with a hypothetical strained marriage, and feeling unimportant to the world as he sings, “Maybe all I'll ever be is the cameo here / A face the crowd might recognize / That comes home twice a year / And then I disappear.”
FINNEAS has proven he is a lyrical genius with his poetic, often excruciatingly impactful lines. Whereas “Hurt Locker” is more anthemic and dominant, “Love is Pain,” is lyrically brilliant and demonstrates all of the artist’s most admirable qualities as a songwriter. The track delves into all of the agonizing hurt love can cause through several all too real situations.
With lines such as, “We go through life we play pretend / Act like it's not about to end / We'll be alright but then your friend runs a red light / You watch his car burst into flames,” and “As you both wordlessly undress / After a fight, it's getting late / You tried hеr best, but then she criеd / And you're to blame, and love is pain,” FINNEAS makes it clear to listeners that it pays a price to feel so deeply.
It is incredibly alarming to see critics scrutinize FINNEAS’ approach to singing about pertinent controversies as he released “What They’ll Say About Us,” in September of 2020 in wake of the Black Lives Matter protests amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The track is present on the album and for good reason as the message, paired with beautiful piano synths, conveys hopefulness in the aftermath of tragedy, embodying the overall tone of the album. FINNEAS expresses this creatively through the story of Nick Cordero -- a Canadian actor who died from COVID-19, and whose story touched FINNEAS himself.
“I just became incredibly attached to this family that I’d never met before. I kind of wrote this song as if you were singing to your loved one who was in a hospital bed while the world was protesting outside ... I did make a point to keep the song fairly ambiguous because I know everybody's sort of going through different circumstances of the same things right now," FINNEAS told WSJ Magazine.
FINNEAS sings, “I wish you could see him / He looks just like you,” in the ending lines of the track, provoking sympathy from fans.
It is also worth mentioning that the opener, “A Concert Six Months From Now,” is reminiscent of his sister’s compelling hit, “Happier Than Ever”. It begins more quiet and passive, with FINNEAS’ voice close to a whisper, then transitions into a crescendo, just like Eilish does as she screams “You made me hate this city.”
The song also pertains to the album’s title, as FINNEAS discloses being hungry for an erratic past love he has had over the years. Yet, he is optimistic that as they become acclimated to the constants of life post-COVID-19, they will still be together in the future. He sings, “Your favorite band is back on the road / And this fall, they're playin' the Hollywood Bowl / I've already purchased two seats for their show / I guess I'm an optimist.”
FINNEAS proves through Optimist with lucid instrumentals and synths, dactylic lyrics and significant subjects, that he is capable of being a star himself, and not just the man behind the magic.
