On The Verge

Fink

Brighton, U.K.
From the Turntable to the Acoustic Guitar
www.finkworld.co.uk

Imagine one of London’s most successful DJs escaping to the seaside environs of Brighton, listening to the musicians of Woodstock and recording a singer/songwriter album—full of heartfelt lyrics and quiet melodies—from his loft. Welcome to the life of Fink, the only singer/songwriter on the electronic and hip-hop-centric Ninja Tune label. Fink, born Fin Greenall to a folk musician father, shifted his focus from turntables to singer/songwriter motifs for 2006’s Biscuits for Breakfast and continued his metamorphis on this year’s Sort of Revolution. Featuring collaborations with John Legend, the album cements his reputation as a self-proclaimed “folk/blues/dub” musician (he also moonlights as a dub musician). Many of Fink’s lyrics are autobiographical, but brief: “We don’t hammer you with tons of lyrics,” he says. “There are probably more lyrics in one Arctic Monkeys track than on our whole album.” After producing artists like Amy Winehouse, Fink worked up the confidence to self-produce Sort of Revolution. “[The process was] a bit masochistic,” he says. “I know enough to do it—but, man, I don’t want to do it again!”