Clear Heart Full Eyes

*Clear Heart Full Eyes* is the first solo album by Craig Finn, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist from The Hold Steady. Fans of that band won’t be shocked or bewildered, yet the songs in this setting give a new dimension to Finn’s narrative songwriting style. His touchstones are still vivid details, flawed characters, and references to religion and rock \'n\' roll as sources of salvation. What\'s different is the backdrop. Country-rock and Americana replace the hard-driving bar rock of his main band, and there\'s an overall subdued quality to the album with an emphasis on rich stories. The slow-burning groove of “Apollo Bay,” the country shuffle of “New Friend Jesus,” and the pedal steel on the ballads “Western Pier” and “Not Much Left of Us” show new approaches for Finn. Even the tracks that sound most like THS (“No Future” and “Honolulu Blues”) come in at half the volume. Recorded in Austin with Spoon producer Mike McCarthy and a great band (featuring members of Phosphorescent, Heartless Bastards, White Denim, and Centro-matic), this is Finn as a singer/songwriter rather than a bandleader. And he nails it.

Dialing the music back and the intensity down, the Hold Steady frontman's first solo album feels like the culmination of the softened edges and blunted urgency of his band's more recent trajectory.

Yes, the first solo album from Hold Steady singer Craig Finn eponymously references Friday Night Lights, the late, great TV drama about how small towns can feel like one big family—or inescapable coffins. But otherwise, the songs on Clear Heart Full Eyes have no connection to the series beyond a similar feel for the…

Clear Heart Full Eyes, an album title more sincere than it might appear, features many of the same themes and imagery that…

Check out our album review of Artist's Clear Heart Full Eyes on Rolling Stone.com.

Whether he’s spinning tales of arson and murder over the angular, synth-kissed indie rock of Lifter Puller, or recounting the excesses and fatal flaws of his fictional Twin Cities denizen with the Hold Steady’s swagger-filled bar rock behind him, Craig Finn has always had a way of blending in with whatever music he’s accompanied by without losing his writerly voice.

Combining the beefy riffs of Tad Kubler, (erstwhile member) Franz Nicolay’s organ whirs and one-man sideshows and the pissed-up paeans of Craig Finn, The Hold Steady were one of North America’s most importable exports last decade.

The Hold Steady’s crunchy bar-rock never really made much sense for frontman Craig Finn’s brand of lyrics-first, reference-laden, recurrent pan-album concepts.

<p>The Hold Steady's Craig Finn captivates <strong>Kitty Empire </strong>with his first solo album</p>

<p>Craig Finn's new understated style for his solo debut emphasises his marvellous storytelling, writes <strong>Dave Simpson</strong></p>

Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes review: ...the hero that you are when no one's watching.