I always relish a chance to write about Nashville rockers Phin. Unfortunately it doesn’t get to happen very often. Announcing themselves with their 6-track Those Killers EP in 2013, a release that showcased their full-bodied rock in various guises from the rowdy “I Saw My Shadow” to the ballad-y “That Is Home,” the only other thing we’ve heard from the band is single “The Pieces” nearly eighteen months ago. However, the band have recently resurfaced not only with new single “You’re Saving Me” but with exciting news. In true Phin style they have decided to drip feed fans, releasing one song every month to culminate in the completion of their appropriately titled and long-awaited debut album, 12 Months, in July 2017.
After such a break, the re-emerging quintet seem the same Phin as when we last left them. All the constituent parts remain – textured layers of bold and catchy guitar riffs, frontman Toby Haydel’s rasping vocals, playful backing vocals and marching percussion. It is clear the band take influence from independent rockers such as Wolf Parade, Local Natives and MGMT but also root their songs in their own Christian beliefs. On new song “You’re Saving Me,” Haydel explained: “Writing ‘You’re Saving Me’ was a way to say thank you to everyone who chooses to live their life selflessly and use their influence to love others. It is amazing that lives can be saved by simple acts of kindness, and we believe acknowledging this can help inspire the pursuit of selfless love.”
I am not one for religion but it does harbour a beautiful sentiment of humanistic unity, friendship and altruism that will no doubt translate as refreshingly hopeful in a time of global unrest: “Every time I’m lost with no way to make it back home. And every time I tell myself that I am all alone. And every time I battle with the demons in my head, I’ll remember what you did, remember what you said.”