Following up 2016’s Ghost Figures was always going to be a heavy prospect, but Benjamin Finger’s done a pretty nifty job of wriggling out from under the sheer (and righteous) melancholy with For Those About to Love. And before you respond (justifiably, as I did) with “We salute you!,” this is no joking matter. Sometimes you have to rely heavily on boundless optimism when rebounding from something as heartwrenching as personal loss (Ghost Figures was indeed dedicated to the passing of a “dear friend”).
But shoot, let’s make some jokes. Let’s feel a little good about ourselves here. Let’s find something that makes us happy. We’re not around forever.
For Those About to Love (We Salute You) (as I’m going to stop calling it now) is anchored in the seven-spot on the tracklist by “You Always Start,” its shambling rhythm, wistful piano and strings, and intruding female vocal samples ripe for the video treatment. And our boy FBF (his first name is Frank, OK?) delivers, rocking an 8mm camera throughout Rome, all on his own, proving his at-least-double-threat-ness. He’s a people-watcher, this Benjamin Finger — and, uh, a cello-watcher too — and his stop/start technique as his subjects pass in front of his lens adds to the stuttering shuffle of the track.
This peek into those weird moments in life when you don’t think anyone’s watching you, those transitional fragments of time that seemingly mean so little, gets right at the heart of what it means to be human: the sheer banality of everyday movement. Glimpses like this just make their counterpoints, the capital-E Events — the ones where fireworks constantly explode in your brain (like — OMG — when you’re ABOUT TO LOVE) — stand out all the more.
When you’re done with the video, why don’t you check out the rest of For Those About to Love, released November 20 via Flaming Pines, below? Friend, I WILL salute you, and constantly!
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