Señor Fin - spinning circles

Señor Fin

Spinning Circles
self-released; 2013

4.3 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Let’s start off this review by saying Señor Fin is a four-piece from Denton, TX that will make a good majority of indie rock or experimental rock bands look like amateurs. I know it’s not the nicest thing to say but it’s true. Most bands can at least make a catchy song, have a respectable leader singer and can find a good drummer. Señor Fin on the other hand has rhythmically complex compositions that combine jazz, ambient pop and rock while implementing an ample amount of changes that seem to just get better. The biggest accomplishment on their album Spinning Circles is that the songs are utterly accessible while at the same time it experiments with different textures and structure on a seemingly open canvas. 

The album opens with “Let it Sway,” which shows the band flexing their muscles right off the bat. They implement cascading bass and guitar lines and excellent jazz-style drumming that caught my attention. At first I was expecting a seven-minute free-style jazz session that I could fully appreciate but to my surprise the lead vocal entered and proved to be the focal center of the song (although there were a lot of strictly instrumental parts). What unfolded was an exciting, original pop song with a foundation of free jazz. 

“Northern Song (Spinning Circles)” may be better than the first song. The band delivers another song that is catchy and accessible while throwing around so many changes that it could make your head spin in a good way. “Eclipse” starts off slow and sparse but as it progress becomes quite an epic statement. The first couple of minutes are two guitars playing off each other. The bass and guitar eventually enter and finally the vocals fall into place. “Cassie's Song” closes the album and is simply guitar and vocals but also the most emotionally resonant song on the album. There is a melancholy and nostalgia that peaks its head and adds another point in the win column for the band.

I know I have talked this band up but there really isn’t much not to like about this group of four young men. Being a musician myself I can appreciate the complexity of their music and attention to detail they put into it. They have put together an album that I think most artists want to put out. It’s an original style while still feeling widely accessible to the general public.  

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