Craig Finn Always Been
Craig Finn's Always Been dramatizes small-town failure and fragile redemption through a narratively rich suite of songs that critics largely find rewarding. Across six professional reviews the record earned a 76.6/100 consensus score, with many reviewers singling out “Bethany” and “Postcards” as emotional centerpieces and other moments like “Crumbs” and “Ride” emerging as standout tracks. The opening material and Finn's fallen-reverend protagonist give the collection a cinematic sweep, while recurring details about addiction, religious trauma, and mid-life loneliness anchor the stories in painful specificity.
Critics consistently praise Finn's storytelling voice and small-story craftsmanship, noting that when the arrangements breathe - as on “Bethany” and “I Walk With A Cane” - the songs achieve vivid catharsis. Several reviewers point to a tension between widescreen, War on Drugs-style production and Finn's conversational delivery, calling certain uptempo and synth-driven cuts - for example “People Of Substance” and “Luke & Leanna” - occasionally overproduced or uneven. Still, the consensus praises the album's narrative interconnectedness and its blend of Seventies L.A. influence with Midwest bar-band grit, so the record reads as both intimate character study and widescreen mood piece.
While some critics register unevenness in instrumentation and a tendency toward sonic sameness, most agree that Always Been rewards close listening: its best songs - “Bethany”, “Postcards”, “Crumbs” and “Ride” - supply the album's clearest emotional payoffs, and the overall critical reception positions the record as a strong, if occasionally flawed, entry in Finn's catalog. Below, professional reviews unpack where the album soars and where its production choices dilute Finn's lyricism.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Body As A River
1 mention
"On the propulsive “Body As A River": "I read what I write / And it’s never without shame"— Paste Magazine
Ride
1 mention
"John Cale, whose backup vocals join her on the mechanical, slow-grooving "Ride.""— Paste Magazine
Mothers of Riches
1 mention
"Soft Cell electronics bounce around the thrush of a xanned-out saxophone on "Mother of Riches.""— Paste Magazine
On the propulsive “Body As A River": "I read what I write / And it’s never without shame
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Bethany
People Of Substance
Crumbs
Luke & Leanna
The Man I've Always Been
Fletcher's
A Man Needs A Vocation
I Walk With A Cane
Clayton
Postcards
Shamrock
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Craig Finn has fashioned a winning suite on Always Been, and the best songs - notably “Bethany” and “Crumbs” - show him at his storytelling peak, the Reverend's fall and its aftermath rendered with weary compassion. Rob Sheffield’s voice here is conversational and admiring, noting how Finn channels Seventies L.A. troubadours while keeping his Midwest bar-band grit, so the best tracks on Always Been feel both intimate and cinematic. The record’s recurring characters make songs like “Bethany” feel like centerpieces, while “Crumbs” deepens the narrative texture, each track earning its place in the album’s mournful but ultimately hopeful arc.
Key Points
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“Bethany” is the album’s best song because it establishes the Reverend’s fall and anchors the record’s interconnected narrative.
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Always Been’s core strengths are its character-driven storytelling, Seventies L.A. soft-rock influence, and emotional lift from bleak material to hopeful resolution.
Themes
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Critic's Take
In his wry, detail-rich way Hayden Merrick argues that Craig Finn finds renewed momentum on Always Been, with uptempo shocks like “People Of Substance” and “Luke & Leanna” acting as the album’s most thrilling moments. He frames the record as Finn’s most cohesive story yet, following an ex-reverend through pages of small, sharp scenes while songs such as “Fletcher's” and “Postcards” supply pensive catharsis. The result is a record that sparkles in electric-blue hues yet never abandons Finn’s iceberg theory of lyricism, making the best tracks on Always Been feel both immediate and richly earned.
Key Points
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“People Of Substance” is the album’s most thrilling uptempo highlight, showcasing Finn’s new electric momentum.
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The album’s core strength is cohesive storytelling—an extended epic about an ex-reverend rendered with vivid small details and emotional catharsis.
Themes
Critic's Take
Craig Finn sounds most at home on Always Been when the music gives his tales room to breathe, which is why “Bethany” and “I Walk With A Cane” stand out as the best tracks on the record. The opener “Bethany” marries pristine pianos and a warbling guitar solo to Finn’s fallen-priest storytelling, lifting a lot of weight from the lyrics. Later, “I Walk With A Cane” and the acoustic shimmer of “Clayton” prove the War on Drugs backing can complement Finn when it scales back. Where synths and neon beats crowd his spoken-word approach - namely on “People Of Substance” and “Luke & Leanna” - the songs tend to misfire, making the album an uneven but often rewarding listen.
Key Points
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“Bethany” is best because production and guitar solo elevate Finn’s storytelling.
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The album’s core strength is Finn’s lyrical world when musical backing is scaled back to folk-rock and organ-accented arrangements.
Themes
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Critic's Take
I found Craig Finn’s storytelling on Always Been consistently compelling, with songs like “Bethany” and “Postcards” standing out as the album’s clearest emotional anchors. Finn’s prose-singer delivery renders Nathan’s decay and half-measures vividly - the record marries Granduciel’s widescreen instrumentation to sharply observed small-town detail. Highlights such as “People Of Substance” and “A Man Needs A Vocation” deepen the concept, while “Luke & Leanna” provides the most direct, heartbreaking payoff. The result is a solo record that nudged me back toward The Hold Steady with new appreciation, because these are songs that land when life finally lets you hear them.
Key Points
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“Postcards” is the most immediate highlight, a melancholy ode that the reviewer most wants to hear live.
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The album’s core strength is Finn’s narratively rich songwriting combined with Granduciel’s widescreen instrumentation.
Themes
Critic's Take
First premise: Craig Finn still excels at small, aching narratives, and on Always Been his best tracks - notably “Crumbs”, “Bethany”, and “Shamrock” - turn quiet details into real emotional payoff. The record often leaves Finn singing against a repetitive War on Drugs production, so when ensemble dynamics align, as on “Crumbs”, the result feels calibrated and true. Conversely, songs like “Luke & Leanna” reveal how a looping synth and drum pattern can flatten his phrasing into abrasion. Overall, the album delivers the familiar Craig Finn concerns - nostalgia, dead-end lives, small epiphanies - but only intermittently reaches the spiritual highs that his best storytelling promises.
Key Points
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“Crumbs” is best because ensemble dynamics elevate a quiet dissolution into genuine emotional drama.
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The album's core strength is Finn's gift for small, character-driven narratives, though production sometimes flattens them.