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![Just as those of us who care about such things are coming to terms with the passing of John Martyn, Fink (alter ego of singer songwriter, Fin Greenall) comes along with a new album. By <a href="http://sharpformen.com/author/barry-barnett/">Barry Barnett</a><div id='nr_fo_top_of_post'></div><p>Just as those of us who care about such things are gradually coming to terms with the passing of <a href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.johnmartyn.com%2F%3Flocation%3D%2Fweb%2FIntroduction&ei=C_I4StioKYnAMomSlJQN&usg=AFQjCNH35JNdoRTNByaVJmjvJjoiMonolw&sig2=r3VsXLLSVbAZxsFG5-Ijfw" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.google.ca']);">John Martyn</a>, <a href="http://www.finkworld.org" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.finkworld.org']);">Fink</a> (alter ego of singer songwriter, Fin Greenall) comes along with his new album, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=312660023&s=1" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://itunes.apple.com']);"><em>Sort Of Revolution</em></a> with songs that cause winter clouds to evaporate, allowing small beams of sunlight to warm our sad bones.</p>
<p>Growing up as a dance obsessive in the late 80’s it’s not surprising to learn that Fink has built himself quite a reputation as a well respected producer and DJ in and around his English south coast home in Brighton, but that knowledge wouldn’t prepare you for the lush jazz-folk inflections of this lovely collection of songs.</p>
<p>Despite the name, Fink is a serious artist with maturity and originality in plentiful supply. He plays and sounds like his own man and probably wouldn’t thank us for the John Martyn comparison, but it’s a hard one to avoid.</p>
<p>Over a 40-year career Martyn ran the gamut from pure folkie to heavy metal guitar hero by way of dub reggae, jazz and pretty much everything else that he ever heard. Fink seems to walk a similarly eclectic path. On the title track, for example, he gets right up close and personal to the microphone while playing a pretty little guitar riff. Then, just when you least expect it, odd drum patterns and overdubbed vocals start to fill the spaces and soon, just as he sings, “Come so far” in his rich, warm baritone you realise he’s presenting you not with a little acoustic ditty, but a big slab of studio-created ambient trickery cleverly disguised as a little acoustic ditty. It’s the sort of trick John Martyn regularly played on us – especially on his collaborations with Lee Perry, Jamaica’s most intense reggae producer. Although this is a million miles away from Perry’s Upsetter, dub-heavy, dancehall anthems, Fink does use the studio as an instrument in ways originally pioneered and subsequently revolutionised by Perry in his Kingston based, Black Ark studio.</p>
<p>Although the spirit of John Martyn seems to hang all over this recording we’re assuming it’s just a spooky coincidence. We’re guessing these recordings were made before Martyn’s passing, and actually whether they were or not is totally incidental. What matters is these songs have been recorded and those of us who care about such things have a new voice to bring a little light and shade to an increasingly bleak musical horizon.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ninjatune.net/home/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.ninjatune.net']);"></a></p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.ninjatune.net/home/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.ninjatune.net']);">Fink –</a></em><a href="http://www.ninjatune.net/home/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.ninjatune.net']);"> Sort Of Revolution</a><em><a href="http://www.ninjatune.net/home/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.ninjatune.net']);"> (NinjaTunes Zen146)</a></em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<div id='nr_fo_bot_of_post'></div> <span id="pty_trigger"></span> New Music: Fink’s <i>Sort of Revolution</i>](http://sharpformen.com/wp-content/gallery/new-music-fink039s-039sort-of-revolution039-gallery/new-music-fink039s-039sort-of-revolution039-gallery00465-02_2.jpg)