FINN's new single, "Control," hits the centre of the Melbourne based band's sound. It’s rootsy, with almost a pop flavour, but definitely a departure from their usual work. Mark and Luke have been kicking around Melbourne since 2008, but something about this track feels sharper.
When we asked Mark about the song's emotional pull, he says, "A lot of that came from recognising that life rarely sits at emotional extremes for very long. Most of the time you’re carrying optimism and uncertainty at the same time. We were interested in that middle ground, where things feel unresolved, but still moving forward."
He thinks about tension when writing. "Musically we were also drawn toward contrast. The song has energy and movement underneath it, but lyrically it’s asking questions rather than offering certainty. That tension became part of the identity of the track."
Their upcoming LP (also titled Control) is the band’s most collaborative yet. "I think after ten albums there’s less need to prove anything to each other. The band understands its own language now, so the process became more instinctive and less self-conscious," Mark tells us.
"I usually bring the original framework of the songs, but this record was shaped heavily by the chemistry of the room, arrangements evolving through conversation, experimentation and restraint. Everyone became more focused on serving the overall atmosphere of the record rather than individual moments."
The title, "Control," isn’t about being in charge, it's possibly more about trying to hold onto something. "For us, Control became less about authority or power and more about the illusion of permanence," Mark says. "You spend a lot of your life trying to organise things into something stable, but eventually you realise most of life is movement, relationships, beliefs, identity, direction."
"The album isn’t pessimistic about that though. If anything, it’s about learning to move with uncertainty rather than resisting it."
People keep asking if FINN is getting more commercial, especially as the new single reached the top 20 Local Sounds Trending Chart. Mark is blunt about that: "We didn’t approach it thinking about commerciality at all. If the song feels more immediate, it’s probably because we became more disciplined about arrangements and pacing."
Their older records wandered a bit. "Earlier records sometimes explored a lot of musical directions at once. With Control we became more interested in clarity, stronger grooves, cleaner structures, letting melodies breathe. It’s less about changing direction and more about refining what already existed within the band."
We asked about their storytelling, it feels authentic and grounded. "That definitely evolved," said Mark. "Earlier on you sometimes write toward ideas of what songwriting is supposed to sound like. Over time we became more interested in precision and observation, small details, understated moments, conversational language."
He likes a bit of mystery. "A lot of the writers we admire most don’t over-explain anything. They create atmosphere and let listeners find themselves inside it. That approach probably influenced us more and more over the years."
Luke’s lap steel adds something different. It’s subtle when it needs to be, but it makes a mark. Mark reckons, "The lap steel (as well as the Banjo!) introduced a different kind of movement into the arrangements. It can sit inside a song almost like another voice, sometimes melodic, sometimes atmospheric, and sometimes rhythmic."
He thinks about the bigger themes too. "On this record it helped widen the landscape of the music without overcrowding it. A lot of the songs deal with distance, movement and shifting perspectives, and the lap steel naturally reinforced those ideas."
Americana is a crowded genre, but FINN somehow keeps it fresh. Mark thinks tradition helps, not hurts. "Tradition can actually be very freeing creatively because it gives you a strong foundation to work from. We’re less interested in reinventing the genre than in finding new angles within it—different textures, different pacing, different emotional spaces."
He says, "The evolution probably comes more through refinement and confidence than radical change. Every record becomes a clearer expression of what the band naturally gravitates toward."
After all these years, FINN stays anchored. The band’s connection is obvious, even after a decade and ten albums. "I think it’s partly that the band has become its own ecosystem creatively. There’s a shared instinct now that only really develops over long periods of time."
Mark still gets excited about the process. "But we also still genuinely enjoy the process—discovering arrangements, chasing atmosphere, finding small musical details that change the emotional weight of a song. That curiosity probably keeps the music alive more than anything else."
Listen to Control by FINN on Local Sounds nowhttps://localsounds.com.au/song/finn/control
Pre-Save the next single "River Running Through" Out May 22nd https://ffm.to/5ywyn6
Pre-Save the album "Control" out August 7th. https://ffm.to/2vqd178
SoundVerge Editorial
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