Chicago-based Finom (f.k.a. OHMME) crafts melodically imaginative and overlapping strains of indie rock, folk, and pop. Together they transform those disparate sounds and rhythms into captivating, off-kilter creations full of frayed emotion, from bemusing charm to sobering sincerity. The duo will celebrate the arrival of their third album with a summer tour that kicks off across North America including a date at Zebulon in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 5th.
Finom was ultimately borne out of a desire by its founding members — singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, two classically trained pianists — to create an outlet for unabashed innovation. So they picked up their guitars and released their debut LP Parts in 2018 as a buoyantly jarring introduction to their brand of beguiling experimental pop. Where angular sonics, jumpy rhythms, and wiley improvisation coil themselves around the pair’s jocular harmonies.
In the four years before the release, both Cunningham and Stewart continued to contribute to the intricate community of musicians that interlaced Chicago: having toured with Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy and earned vocal/instrumental credits on tracks by Chance the Rapper and Twin Peaks. Fast forward a few years and Finom would welcome Jeff’s son Stephen Tweedy to the stage as their drummer for a string of shows. The Windy City’s community of artists fostering and feeding their exploration of unorthodox fringes.
After the helter-skelter that came with touring for their first record, they returned to the studio to dish out anxiety-coated and rubbery indie rock. Flood the Ghost injects their winding lyricism with a heady tonic of burnt-out and manic energy that rollicks and wails with spellbinding uncertainty. They followed it up with Ohmme, a re-release of their 2017 self-titled EP, and also made the announcement they’d be changing their name from OHMME to Finom.
It was at this point that Cunningham and Stewart ushered in a seachange in their sound with Not God. The elastic snap of its percussion rhythms gets its dulcet hooks in you almost instantaneously with album opener “Haircut” or on the driving bass dronings that throb within “Cyclops.” Once again the delirium-saturated poetry of their songwriting flails and stews over the cruel limitations (and failings) of the self. All nine songs unfurling themselves as Finom’s most entrancing and poignant collection to date.
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Words: Steven Ward
See Finom at Zebulon in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 5th.
Visit Finom on their website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to Not God the new album from Finom below!
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