Craig Finn Announces New LP ‘I Need A War’ – Shares First Track “Blankets”

Partisan Records has announced the release of Craig Finn’s eagerly awaited new album, I Need A New War, arriving Friday, April 26.

The third album in a trilogy (following 2015’s Faith in the Future and 2017’s We All Want The Same Things), I Need A New War once again sees Finn expertly chronicling our complex, often confusing, modern era, drawing deeply felt character studies about regular people trying to respond to extraordinary times, attempting to find connection whilst wondering how to keep pace with a world moving faster than they are. The LP further finds Finn focusing his lens on New York City – his home for the last 18 years.

“Going in, I saw this record as the third part of a trilogy,” says Finn. “Thematically, this was the third group of songs that I had written about smaller moments — people trying to stay afloat in modern times, attempting to find connection, achieving tiny triumphs and frustrating let downs in their day to day lives.”

I Need A New War, Finn’s fourth solo LP, was recorded throughout 2018 at The Isokon in Woodstock, NY with producer Josh Kaufman and engineer D. James Goodwin, both of whom teamed with Finn on his widely acclaimed previous solo releases. In addition, the album features musical contributions from many of his regular solo collaborators, including Kaufman, horn master Stuart Bogie (Antibalas), pianist Sam Kassirer, vocalists Annie Nero and Cassandra Jenkins, and drummer extraordinaire Joe Russo.

“Perhaps forward motion is everything,” says Finn. “The characters in the songs on this record, and the last two, are trying to keep up and keep their heads above water. They succeed or they don’t, but their stories are the tales of their attempts at pushing ahead. And so, with my own push forward, I feel lucky and excited to be sharing these songs and stories.”

The first song from the new record premiered on NPR today and can be heard below. “Blankets is a song about someone who has never gotten over a past love, and goes searching for her. But time is running out,” says Finn.