After quickly rising to fame as co-writer and producer for his sister
Billie Eilish and winning big-category Grammys for his sleek, intimate approach to both disciplines,
Finneas O'Connell makes his full-length solo debut with
Optimist. It follows a second chart-topping
Eilish album,
Happier Than Ever, by three months. Taking its title from a reluctant line in the first track,
Optimist is somewhat of a departure from the brooding, often suffocating tone of his kid sister's prior releases while at the same time indulging and repurposing his trademark sound. The most notable difference between the siblings is
FINNEAS' warmer, more assertive vocal presence on an album that's immersed in the absurdities and anxieties of its time. Released about a year-and-a-half into an ongoing pandemic with lingering touring ramifications Stateside, it opens with lead single "A Concert Six Months from Now." Part lockdown fantasy and part un-breakup song, it looks forward to the possibility of both a show and a reconciliation in the distant-but-not-too-distant future. Beginning with strummed acoustic guitar, a flash of crowd noise, and melancholy, double-tracked octave vocals, it introduces distorted rock guitar and drums at the midway point, coinciding with lines like "I've been thinking too much/And it's ruined my nights" and "My heart doesn't slow down/When you kill the lights." The song closes on acoustic guitar, soft strings, and an invitation. The overcast-but-hopeful outlook continues on "The Kids Are All Dying," a song whose teasing tone, playful toy keyboard timbre, and stomping beat are offset by lyrics questioning the act of writing songs about sex, drugs, and rock & roll when the day's news -- and planet's future -- is so grim. Later, the slinky pop tune "The 90s" romanticizes a simpler time without smartphones. That song underscores lyrics about the heavy mental burden of worry with woozy, processed vocal effects. Contrasting these thoughtful Zoomer anthems are tuneful piano ballads like "Love Is Pain" and the heartrending (and again hopeful) "What They'll Say About Us," as well as catchier R&B-pop ("Happy Now") and the eerie, intimate electro-pop of "Around My Neck." While
Optimist makes a good case for
FINNEAS' skills around a pop melody and a perceptive viewpoint, he also drops the instrumental piano piece "Peaches Etude" in the middle of the track list. Accordingly, the album plays like a portfolio, perhaps fitting for a musician still sorting out and amplifying his potential. ~ Marcy Donelson