Always Been [LP], Craig Finn, Vinyl

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.”

From the opener “Bethany,” a moody piano-driven portrait with a distinctive Granduciel guitar solo, to the propulsion of the first single “People of Substance,” to the vivid storytelling and character development that has marked Finn’s career, this record feels at once familiar and fresh.

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.