Album reviews: Finneas, The War On Drugs, Duran Duran
A superstar’s sibling, a one-man band and some 1980s veterans are reviewed this week
SINGER/SONGWRITER
Finneas
Optimist (Interscope)
Who’s Finneas, you say? That’d be Finneas O’Connell Eilish, older brother of Billie, with whom he has co-written and produced myriad hit songs. This debut album should change the fact that his solo work has been mostly overlooked – but based on the numerous mediocre tracks here, he won’t be following his sister to the enormodomes any time soon. From humdrum acoustic ballads (A Concert Six Months from Now) to overexcited pop (Hurt Locker), Optimist is a classic case of a backroom guy with huge talent, but not quite enough stage presence. **
