Finn Doherty is a London-based artist who has just released his debut EP, exploring themes of desire, self-destruction and the search for identity against a backdrop of urban life.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by Alec Jafrato

Already making an impression on the London live scene, this EP release feels perfectly timed for Finn, giving the wider world a chance to discover his music, ourselves included. He’s not without a certain attention already, having been featured by BBC Introducing Suffolk. This year will see him take the stage at Latitude Festival.

His debut EP if you’re bored of this city is a deeply vulnerable one for him, exploring his own experience of relationships and life in London as he came to terms with his own queerness and bisexuality. It opens in a soft, contemplative fashion with a delicate instrumental Intro before we launch into the lo-fi groove of ~long nights with your eyes~. When Finn’s vocals come in, they are instantly arresting, understatedly passionate as they deliver a pensive, heart-wrenching tale.

Drop My Guard gives us some hazy, dark experimental pop that gives plenty of space to Finn’s ability to tell a story with his lyrics. KMU slows things down with a raw and percussive moment full of a sense of malaise. It’s a highlight.

The EP’s conclusion is kicked off by the tender, acoustic and cinematic ~your love won’t take me home~ before Figure it Out broods with a thick darkness and visceral lyrics. Things are then brought to a close by the bittersweet Call It Off.

Finn Doherty is an accomplished pop artist that simply deserves a lot more attention. This debut EP will no doubt get him it. It’s the perfect combination of relatable, emotional storytelling and boundary pushing dark pop. Not a minute is wasted in this short collection of dizzy highs and melancholic lows.

If you’re bored of this city was mixed and mastered by Lavar Bullard. The EP is out now and you can check it out below.