Meet the band: “We are Finn & Jake, a duo from Santa Barbara, CA featuring the angelic voice of Olivia Finnerty and the dynamic instrumentation of Jake Hahn! After meeting as students at UCSB and busking around SB, we started making music in 2023. Special thanks to Austin and Riley! Stream Skipping Stones, out on Spotify and Apple Music!!!”
“Back To My Old Life” is Finn & Jake’s debut album, and looking at the cover artwork of the album, I was wondering if the music would be as warm, heartfelt and cute as the cartoon-drawn living room with the cat and dog, a space that looks awesome for a retirement plan, or just a life of peace and quiet in general!
As soon as I hit play, I find myself in that room in a sense. This music feels like a hug. I’ve heard chord progressions from bands such as the Beatles all the way to Muse and everything in between, as well as lazy drunk guitar slides and warmly produced strumming along with washy reverbed arpeggios and a general semi-dreamy vibe.
The toms driving the beat and the bass playing a groovier and more present role in “Zombie Girl” made the track an instant favourite of mine. It is a few tracks later, in “Diamonds” that the drums come back with a fat and bigger sound, whereas in the meantime I have enjoyed a synthy, ambient interlude (10.05.23) and a wonderful follow-up to that style, which is “Quiet Angel” and makes you fall in love in a sweet youthful way.
I absolutely love Olivia’s voice. She has a quality about her which is definitely reminiscent of some folk singers and some classic rock, singer-songwriter and indie vocalists, but it has the melodic refinement of singers like Joni Mitchel, Karen Carpenter and even Lana Del Rey (even though Lana usually sounds like she is bored, and Olivia sounds nothing like that, let me be fair!) with who knows what other references and influences that I am probably too old to know. Her vocals are very versatile and create diverse sounds within the band’s selected style, from dreamy whispery vocals to absolutely sweet and melodic tones as well as a very good use of harmonies.
While listening to the album, one may discover some lovely details that add a lot of value, like the almost Spanish-sounding guitar solo in “Patchwork”, the bass lines that are actually doing a lot of work throughout the whole album but stay in the background, and a subtle shaker and other percussion parts.
Overall, this was a delight, I would love to see this played live in a Tiny Desk situation, with the difference of the actual space being the room on the album cover.
Written by Spiros Maus
