Fink (cantante)

Fin Greenall , conocido profesionalmente como Fink , es un cantante, compositor, guitarrista, productor y DJ inglés nacido en Cornualles y actualmente residente en Berlín y Londres. Entre 1997 y 2003, se centró en la música electrónica y pinchó internacionalmente, publicando en 2000 su álbum debut Fresh Produce con el sello Ninja Tune . Desde el lanzamiento en 2006 de su álbum Biscuits for Breakfast , el nombre Fink también se refiere al trío de grabación y gira liderado por el propio Greenall, junto a Guy Whittaker (bajo) y Tim Thornton (batería/guitarra).

Greenall ha escrito en colaboración con John Legend , Banks , Ximena Sarinana y Professor Green . Con Amy Winehouse , coescribió la canción "Half Time", que aparece en la colección póstuma de Winehouse, Lioness: Hidden Treasures . En 2012, Fink colaboró ​​y actuó con la Orquesta Real del Concertgebouw en Ámsterdam, lo que dio como resultado el álbum en directo Fink Meets The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra . El primer sello discográfico de Fink fue Ninja Tune , y en 2014 fundó su propio sello, R'COUP'D Records, originalmente una filial de Ninja Tune y ahora independiente.

Greenall nació en 1972 en Cornwall y creció en Bristol . Greenall recuerda que "lo único de su padre que no le permitían tocar era la vieja guitarra acústica Martin". Greenall dijo: "Era su única posesión de la que decía: 'todo en esta casa es propiedad de todos, excepto eso ' " . ^{[ 2 ]} Su presencia influyó en su futuro en la música. "Lo mejor de crecer en una casa donde la música es un factor importante... era el hecho de que la música formara parte de tu vida como algo perfectamente natural". Durante su adolescencia, acumuló intereses musicales eclécticos, inclinándose por The Cure , The Smiths , The Orb, la música africana y el hardcore japonés, antes de descubrir la música electrónica y dance en la Universidad de Leeds .

Obtuvo su licenciatura en Historia e Inglés en la Universidad de Leeds y, junto con amigos estudiantes, formó el efímero grupo de música dance EVA, que firmó con Kikin' Records en 1993. ^{[ 3 ]} Durante el resto de la década de 1990 y gran parte de principios de la década de 2000, Greenall trabajó en la industria musical para varios sellos discográficos con sede en Londres, incluyendo Source de Virgin , Def Jam y Sony . Simultáneamente, desarrolló una carrera musical, realizando remezclas y produciendo para varios artistas, entre ellos Ryuichi Sakamoto y Elbow , pero también como DJ. ^{[ 4 ]}

La carrera discográfica seria de Fink comenzó con el lanzamiento de su sencillo debut "Fink Funk" por parte de N-Tone, subsidiaria de Ninja Tune , en 1997, ^{[ 5 ]} seguido del álbum Fresh Produce en 2000, que fue bien recibido. En los años siguientes, continuó produciendo a otros artistas, incluidos Martin Taylor , Michael Pitt y Robert Belfour .

Hacia mediados de la década de 2000, Greenall desarrolló una desilusión con la música dance y con ser DJ, y comenzó a inclinarse hacia caminos musicales más tradicionales. Fue este sentimiento el que dio como resultado Biscuits for Breakfast de 2006 , el primer álbum en el que participaron sus colaboradores actuales Guy Whittaker y Tim Thornton , con quienes Greenall había sido amigo durante algunos años pero con quienes aún no había trabajado. Construido alrededor de su voz blusera, la guitarra acústica con técnica de fingerpicking y la sección rítmica en vivo minimalista, Biscuits , autoproducido , exhibía una incipiente sensibilidad pop a la vez que conservaba algunos de los sellos sonoros característicos de Ninja Tune. Se convirtió en el primer cantautor del sello. ^{[ 4 ]} El álbum, junto con el sencillo "Pretty Little Thing", ayudó a definir su estilo y comenzó a darlo a conocer a un público más amplio y de mayor renombre, en particular a Zero 7 , quienes invitaron a Fink a ser su telonero en su gira por el Reino Unido.

During the extensive European and American tours which accompanied Biscuits, Greenall began to write songs for the follow-up album. For this, he collaborated both with his bandmates and third parties, teaming up with Blair MacKichan for the writing of the "This is the Thing", and producer Andy Barlow of Lamb. The eventual album, Distance and Time, was released through Ninja Tune in October 2007, and was immediately recognised as a more robust, band-led affair than its predecessor, with musicOMH stating that "the soft-spoken confessionals of their debut are more accomplished this time, taken to the big city and returned home just as wounded, but more worldly-unwise than their little brothers."^[6] The tour following Distance's release took Fink to new territories such as Germany, South Africa and Canada, and also saw the band supporting Italian rock band Negramaro at their climactic San Siro stadium show in Milan.

One of Distance and Time's tracks "If Only" attracted the attention of American singer-songwriter John Legend, with whom Greenall collaborated on tracks for his album Evolver. The hit single "Green Light", featuring André 3000, won a BMI Award for Greenall in 2010.^[7] Legend reciprocated by collaborating on songs for Fink's 2009 album Sort of Revolution. Greenall decided to return to production duties for this set, resulting in a more experimental approach that the BBC's Keira Burgess described as a "sublime study in the art of pleasing yourself without drowning in indulgence".^[8]Radiohead became a fan of Fink's work at this time, posting the song "Q&A" on their website playlist.^[9]BBC Radio One DJ Gilles Peterson, who commissioned a live session for his late-night show, recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios.^[10]

Sort of Revolution's accompanying tour was more extensive than previous outings, taking the band to China and Australia for the first time. In the latter country, Fink headlined a three-night stand at the Sydney Festival.^[11] It was during this trip that Greenall met Professor Green, and the pair decided on a collaboration for Green's upcoming debut album, 2010's Alive Till I'm Dead. The track, "Closing The Door", features a rap from Green, a sung vocal from Greenall and instrumental backing from Thornton and Whittaker. The experience led Green to request a further partnership, this time for his 2011 release At Your Inconvenience, another full-band collaboration on "Spinning Out", a reworking of The Pixies 1987 classic "Where Is My Mind".

On the American trip for the Revolution album, Fink was invited to perform at a tribute concert for R.E.M. at New York City's Carnegie Hall. Greenall performed a solo rendition of "The Apologist" from the band's 1998 album Up.^[12]

Songwriting sessions for Fink's fifth full-length album began in early 2010. For this album, Greenall's process was very different. Greenall recounted in an interview that "after all the live shows and all the fun we'd had on stage, we jammed first as a band. No vocals, just these massive soundscapes. We did about 30 of them. Then a couple of weeks later, go through them, pick the best bits. "Perfect Darkness", the song, was one riff, one bass line and one moment of a 20-minute jam."^[13] The band travelled to Los Angeles to record the subsequent album with producer Billy Bush.

On 27 March 2011, the track "Perfect Darkness" was made available for free download via the band's website, followed by the album release on 13 June. The critical reception the album received was positive, with The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan describing it as a "delight... achieves such loveliness you don't want it to end",^[14] and the BBC's Ian Wade calling the set "a writhing, surprisingly meaty addition to the over-crowded singer-songwriter genre."^[15]

Para promocionar el álbum, la banda decidió ampliar considerablemente su espectáculo en vivo, no con músicos adicionales, sino con una producción visual diseñada por 59 Productions, famosa por su trabajo con Jónsi y en el espectáculo War Horse . Greenall comenta: "Han sido parte fundamental del álbum desde el momento en que comenzamos a componerlo, porque sabíamos que participarían en el espectáculo. Han diseñado un espectáculo a medida que no eclipsa la música, sino que te envuelve y enfatiza algunas de las atmósferas de la misma". ^{[ 16 ]} El espectáculo en vivo incluía una estructura a la que se atornillaron 48 lámparas Anglepoise y ocho pantallas visuales de gasa. La gira posterior llevó a Fink a 49 fechas en catorce países durante el otoño de 2011, incluyendo la Union Chapel de Londres , donde David Sinclair de The Times describió el espectáculo como "una tormenta perfecta de emoción profunda y melancólica".

En 2012, Fink colaboró ​​con Professor Green en " Read All About It, Pt. II ", una nueva versión del exitoso sencillo de Green " Read All About It " con Emeli Sandé . La canción fue grabada para la revista Q. En noviembre de 2012, Fink ofreció su concierto más grande como cabeza de cartel en el Reino Unido hasta la fecha, en el Shepherd's Bush Empire de Londres .

En octubre de 2011, la Orquesta Real del Concertgebouw de los Países Bajos y la organización benéfica neerlandesa de música clásica Entree se pusieron en contacto con Fink para que actuara con la orquesta en el tradicional concierto de la noche de la Reina del año siguiente. El concierto tuvo lugar el 29 de abril de 2012 en el Concertgebouw de Ámsterdam e incluyó piezas clásicas elegidas por la orquesta, junto con arreglos exclusivos de seis canciones del catálogo de Fink, con arreglos de Jules Buckley de la Heritage Orchestra . También se interpretó el arreglo de Buckley de «What Power Art Thou» de Henry Purcell , cantado por Greenall. Claudia Cuypers de la OOR declaró que «la orquesta otorga a las canciones de Fink una nueva e inesperada fuerza y ​​ligereza... en esta sala sus canciones se completan, aunque uno pensara que ya lo estaban». ^{[ 17 ]}

La orquesta encargó una aplicación especial para iPad para el evento, en la que los espectadores de todo el mundo podían ver en directo, en tiempo real, el audio y el vídeo del concierto: la primera vez que se utiliza una aplicación de este tipo con este fin en los Países Bajos.

On 14 October 2013, a live album of the concert was released through Ninja, entitled Fink Meets The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

On 19 March 2014, Fink released the first song from their new album, "Hard Believer". The song was made available for free download from the band's website, and streaming on SoundCloud.^[18] A week later, Fink confirmed that a new album entitled Hard Believer would be released in summer 2014.

Hard Believer was released on 14 July 2014 through a new Ninja Tune imprint R'COUP'D. Like its predecessor, it was produced by Billy Bush. Buoyed by the radio success of the single "Looking Too Closely", the album charted in several territories, including a top 10 appearance in the Netherlands (number 8), number 25 in Germany, and at Top 30 slot on the BillboardHeatseekers album chart in the US.

Following the success of the Hard Believer album Greenall made an alternative version of the album using some more of the atmospheric sounds from the record, which emerged in May 2015 as Horizontalism.^[19]

On 10 March 2017, Fink released a more blues-oriented album called Fink's Sunday Night Blues Club, Vol. 1. Considered a side project, "after the pressure of Hard Believer, and the studio time of Horizontalism, to do something raw, rough, and live, a record that just was, for its own sake", it was recorded in Fink's apartment in Berlin. The album was produced and mixed by Fink and Flood. Each track was recorded "fast, live, using one vintage mic, and one vintage amp."^[20] The track "Cold Feet" was later used in the television show Better Call Saul.^[21]

On 15 September 2017, again through R'COUP'D, Fink released the album Resurgam, with prior releases of the singles "Cracks Appear" on 31 July and "Not Everything Was Better in the Past" on 29 August. The album was recorded entirely at the Assault & Battery studios in London, with producer Flood. Fink subsequently announced an autumn tour with more than sixty dates across nineteen countries, with the band including two drummers for their live performances.^[22]

Fink's eighth studio album Bloom Innocent was released in October 2019. It was once again produced by Flood.

Announced on his own website, Fink's album Beauty in Your Wake was released on 5 July 2024.

In March 2026, Fink released the single "Memorise Your Senses" as the lead single to the June 2026 album The City Is Coming To Erase It All.^[23]

In 2005, Greenall sings the track "Dead Man" on Nitin Sawhney's album Philtre.

Fink appeared on Bonobo's 2006 album Days to Come for the track "If You Stayed Over" (an adaptation of which became "Make It Good", from Fink's own Distance And Time album).

In 2008, Fink appeared on the John Legend album Evolver, having co-written "Greenlight" and co-produced and co-written "Set Me Free".

Fink also continues to operate within the dance music scene under the name Sideshow on Will Saul's Simple Records, with seven releases to his name. An album, Admit One, was released in January 2009. He also continues to record under various guises, currently Quantum Entanglement with Berlin-based DJ Lee Jones.

In November 2011, he has spoken of his early sessions with Amy Winehouse, saying, "the songs were there, her voice was there, and she was genuinely who she was, and that was obvious even at 17. She was a no compromise, full-on artist. It was just awesome to work with her."^[16]

In 2012, Fink appeared on the Season 2 pilot episode of an Indian musical show called The Dewarists along with composer Salim–Sulaiman from India and Shafqat Amanat Ali from Pakistan.

In 2013 Fink collaborated with John Legend on the soundtrack album to 12 Years a Slave, having co-written and performed "Move".

• Sitio oficial
• Fink en YouTube
• Sesiones de 2 metros
• Fink en el programa Morning Becomes Eclectic de KCRW