Long time favourites here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia, the irrepressible Fingerless are back with the deliciously restrained and haunting tones of ‘Monster’. Eschewing their normal psychedelic-tinged upbeat pace, ‘Monster’ is a caged beast coasting on simple delicate guitars supported by pounding epic percussion with singer channelling a better version of Chris Martin, crooning like a Las Vegas entertainer with an anthemic monster chorus fringed with harmonised back up vocals.
Marc Cheesman says of the track, in his usueal self-drepracting way:
…it’s a pretty simple song, but a deeply personal one. We’ve been playing this live for a long time, but I resisted recording it. Basically it’s about self doubt. Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to record it…
There is a bleak romanticism to the lyrics:
And in your eyes when you’re blue
your voice keeps crying to me
you’re going nowhere, nowhere, with me
It’s statuesque, majestic and bold with the sort of enigmatic delivery that typifies Fingerless, a band that in a world where there was recognition based on talent alone (and not just age and hairstyles), would be a whole lot bigger in the public consciousness than they are. Here’s to mainstream music – this is what you’re missing:
Magnificent as always. ‘Monster’ is out now through the illustrious and beloved 4000 Records and available to download and stream via all the usual sites and through the link above.
‘Monster’, is taken from Fingerless’ recent work with Jeff Lovejoy (Screamfeeder, Sahara Beck, Blues Arcadia) for their as-yet untitled guitar and piano-driven 5th album.
Feature Photograph: Warwick Epiha
