Finneas is stone alone in the COVID-haunted video for, “A Concert Six Months From Now,” the first single from the producer/songwriter’s upcoming debut album. The 24 year-old singer announced the name and release date of his first full length on Thursday morning (August 5), revealing that Optimist will drop on Oct. 15.
“Hope you enjoy, I can’t wait for you to hear the whole record,” he said in a tweet before debuting the Sam Bennett-directed video, in which he emerges onto the storied stage to the shouts of an invisible crowd. Squinting through the spotlights, he meanders around as the song’s gentle acoustic strumming ushers in his tale of a love that spans the years, lingering, but never quite fading away.
“2011 You stole my heart here/ And I couldn’t listen/ To that band for years/ Till that night last summer/ When you reappeared/ Forgot how bad I wanted this,” he sings while stumbling through the blinking stage lights in a hushed tone after an opening verse that hints at the current anxiety about slowly re-emerging from our pandemic bubble.
“Your favorite band Is back on the road/ And this fall they’re playing/ The Hollywood bowl/ I’ve already purchased/ Two seats for their show/ I guess I’m an optimist,” the Grammy-winning producer sings on the first taste of the 13-track follow-up to his 2019 debut EP, Blood Harmony. By mid-song the arrangement swells to a roar as Finneas runs through the empty seats in the Bowl, with fountains of sparks shooting up all around him.
Now that Finneas has helped his sister Billie Eilish launch her sophomore album, Happier Than Ever, he can begin concentrating on his own work in a year in which he’s already popped up in the video for James Blake’s “Say What You Will” single and paired up with Ashe on “Till Forever Falls Apart.”
The track list for Optimist is:
1.”A Concert Six Months From Now”
2.”The Kids Are All Dying”
3.”Happy Now”
4.”Only a Lifetime”
5.”The 90s”
6.”Love is Pain”
7.”Peaches Etude”
8.”Hurt Locker”
9.”Medieval”
10.”Someone Else’s Star”
11.”Around My Neck”
12.”What They’ll Say About Us”
13.”How It Ends”
Watch the video for “A Concert Six Months From Now” and see Finneas’ tour dates below.
“Optimist”, my debut album will be available everywhere on October 15. The first track “A Concert Six Months From Now” is out now along with the official video ♥️ hope you enjoy, I can’t wait for you to hear the whole record https://t.co/k7m3Bd0TH3 pic.twitter.com/YXmiJB1YP7
— FINNEAS (@finneas) August 5, 2021
Finneas fall North American tour dates:
Sept. 3 – Napa, CA @ BottleRock Festival**
Sept. 18 – Las Vegas, NV @ iHeart Radio Music Festival**
Oct. 1 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits**
Oct. 8 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits**
Oct. 25 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
Oct. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
Nov. 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Nov. 3 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Nov. 4 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
Nov. 6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
Nov. 8 – Denver, CO @ Summit
Nov. 10 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
Nov. 12 – Athens, OH @ Ohio University^^
Nov. 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of The Living Arts
Nov. 14 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Nov. 16 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Nov. 18 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
Nov. 20 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Corona
Nov. 21 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall
** Festival Set
^^Rescheduled Date