Bonne Finken
Fairytales/Love Affairs
www.bonnefinken.com
I have an ambivalent relationship with commercial pop. I got my first transistor radio in 1966, when we lived in San Jose, Calif., so my seminal experience of pop music was at the moment when Motown, The Beatles and psychedelic rock collided. The mainstream was a lot less calculated and more varied than what you hear on the corporate Clear Channel radio.
Bonne Finken’s Fairytales/Love Affairs is definitely of the mainstream. You’ll hear the same combination of post-Nine Inch Nails electronica and sing-along hooks that animate the music of Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga. The difference between those artists and Finken is one of musical substance. Finken beats them hands down on vocal chops: she has the range and control of vocal timbre that they can only dream of, and it’s real, not autotune.
Finken’s lyrics don’t try to shock or titillate. There’s nothing trite about them—it’s her delivery that makes them work. The words “My world was filled with laughter/My world was filled with stars” don’t mean that much on the page, but when Finken sings them on “Magic,” soaring over a crunchy beat and raw synth bass, it works. And her wordless melody fills the songs out better than any clever verbiage could.
Finken puts a lot into her melodies as well. “Say You Do” twists and turns sinuously, and at the end of the chorus a half dozen overdubbed Finkens intertwine. As it’s written, “trees and forests blur in adaptation” is probably the least successful lyric of the album, but the meaning is in her voice, the melody and the arrangement—you don’t have to be a poet if you can sing like that. My favorite track, “My Heart,” brings the epic pop of Kate Bush to mind, combining timpani, strings, a choir and an analog drum machine into a science fiction symphonic bombast.
Finken brings back some of what I miss from 1966: popular music that isn’t just calculated, forgettable radio fodder that will wear out in a few months. Fairy Tales/Love Affairs has a commercial sheen and pop accessibility without sacrificing substance. She’s a perfect Iowa diva: confident, not afraid to cut loose and wail, but still down to earth. The diva next door!
http://youtu.be/2ynVa6iCmKM
Great review on Bonne Finkens Fairytales / LoveAffairs Kent. We were walking thru the farmers market a few years ago. Hot day in July and I could hear this girl throwing down Sonia Dadda’s Love a Lover. I followed the sound and there was Bonne with a band. We watched the entire show and bought Soul on Display. Well its been a journey as her fan. Her determination is nothing short of amazing. She has a feel for her fans and she writes and produces her music for all of us. I can see your a Bonne fan already and it just the beginning of a hell of a musical ride. I so wish you could see her work a stage. There is nobody I know of currently that has the presence like Bonne. Shes is truly singing her heart out for us every time she performs. Thanks for the great review Kent. Much appreciated !!! Phil