Neil and Liam Finn Video Premieres

Despite its young cast, Neil and Liam Finn’s new video for guitar ballad “Anger Plays a Part” deals with grown-up problems in the real world. The single is on the duo’s new album, Lightsleeper, which is out now.

In the clip a pair of intense young actors dress up as adults, and, along with their fancy clothes, inherit a full set of adult concerns. Despite their comfortable lifestyle, their disenchantment with each other and their middle-class burdens weigh heavily upon them.

This is their first musical collaboration. Fans of Neil Finn’s Crowded House days will recognise the beautiful melodies, while Liam Finn fans will appreciate his more experimental approach.

Liam Finn, 34, composed the tune, which is more about general frustration than the weary disappointment expressed by the couple. “I wrote the song while living in New York – amidst some frustration and anxiety over the writing process,” he says.

While the Finns have played isolated shows together, including at Los Angeles theatre Largo on 18 August, Neil Finn’s plans to tour with Fleetwood Mac soon prevents them from doing a full run … for now. They add, “We’re fitting in little bits and pieces around the Fleetwood Mac tour, and next year we want to play these songs to as many people as we can. We’re really enjoying performing together, and we feel like we’re reaching new highs every time we do it and we’d like to share that with the rest of the world.”

Original article by Melinda Newman, Billboard, August 22, 2018.

Photo by Russ Flatt.