The search for the next pop music it-boy is officially over. Displaying full transparency, truth, and identity within his work is Asher Finlon, a twenty year old artist who is in full control of his craft. Writing, producing, mixing, and mastering his work entirely on his own, Finlon is dedicated to making art that memorializes the different chapters of his life. Look no further than his newest single, “Lying Art”, to see that Finlon is building the groundwork for a unique career that he has built from the ground up. After having long connected with the emotional ties brought to a film by its score or soundtrack, Finlon began work on his first album at fifteen. After taking three years to complete the project, Finlon set out to continue documenting his life through music. “It’s the most personal of diaries,” Finlon mentions over Zoom. “Obviously, everyone [can write in] diaries, everyone has their own pictures and memories and things like that, but to have a complete file form of something that you were going through at that time…I can like hear a song or an album and I’m like, ‘This is what I was thinking, what I liked sonically, and what I wanted to make at that time’, and it will stay that way forever. To have something permanent like that is so interesting to me.”
Fast forward to November of 2024, Finlon has now created a total of six albums, with Spree being the first to be released publicly this past June. Marking each chapter of his life with a body of art, he’s getting ready to cement the most recent chapter on his upcoming album Infinity Coup, set to drop in the coming months. “I finished Spree, and I swear to god, I finish or put out an album and the second I do it, something clicks in my brain and I know not exactly what I want next, but it starts conceptualizing so fast because it’s my life. My music is based off my life…Spree at its core is pop-rock because even the songs that are like, fun pop, whatever, so many of the songs are guitar based and there’s so many live instruments. There are on this record [Infinity Coup] too, but it’s so much more electronic. I did so many effects. I did so much work into auto-tuning random things and doing way far in the background, like crazy sounds and things like that. With Spree, I feel like those weren’t the main focus. I feel like a lot of those weren’t the main focus…With Infinity Coup, the driving force is the weird sounds.” With the detailed sonic landscape comes a visual component, where Finlon says he closes his eyes as he listens to his own music to determine what he’s envisioning, who’s there, and what colors match the music. With three detailed singles (“Shadow”, “Don’t Speak At All”, and “Lying Art”) serving a wide variety of taste for what’s to come, it’s clear Finlon is creating a sonic world to encompass listeners within. “Lying Art”, the newly released third single from Infinity Coup, serves as nothing short of a breathtaking spectacle. Painstakingly honest lyrics and an immersive, atmospheric sound highlight Finlon in his element, displaying just what he is all about.
Building it’s sonic landscape through melancholic and experimental sounds, the mid-tempo track builds up to an anthemic bridge that highlights Finlon’s ability to convey heart, nuance, and raw honesty within his music (“I could get your number/I could meet your mother/I could give you everything, be a better lover/I could put on makeup/I could take it off quick/I could be a “boy” boy/Want it and ask it). After teasing the track on TikTok, the song released to become his most streamed track within just two days. This moment, however, wasn’t necessarily a part of Finlon’s plan. After starting the track last November, Finlon took some time away from the track with not much intent to finish it. “This song has always been kind of a maybe for me. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to use it. I used to not really like it that much. I was like, ‘This song’s really good to remember what I was going through at this time’, but I didn’t really think it was actually that good. Then, August rolled around, I finished recording it, and I was like, ‘Okay. I see the vision now. I really see the vision.’” Producing the rest of the track around the bigger, intense, driving sounds he was into at the time is what led to Finlon falling in love with the song, eventually deciding to put it on Infinity Coup. In this moment of his career, with more ears listening than ever, Finlon reflects back to the music he’s made in the past, and looks forward into what’s next. “I look back at songs I made when I was 15, and I’m like, ‘This sucks’, but it’s awesome that I made it myself. I don't even think of it as myself. I’m like, that kid back then who’s not even me anymore…that’s other Asher. That kid made everything by himself, and I’m not him anymore, and that’s so cool. So, in five years, I hope I look back and I’m like, ‘That’s a classic. That’s super cool that you made that then, because I still love that song.’”
“Lying Art” is a shining star amongst Finlon’s work thus far, and looking further into his work displays the same honesty, dedication, and artistry. His album, Spree, features a thoughtful arrangement within its track tracklisting that creates a seamless listening experience with transitions between tracks. The upcoming Infinity Coup features that same attention to detail and care, while also continuing to give Finlon’s emotions a healthy place to exist. As he gears up to continue the rollout for Infinity Coup, Finlon leaves a thoughtful perspective in regards to what he wants people to take away from his art. “I think it’s good to be angry. I think a lot of my music seems sad, but at the core of my music, it’s angry, and I’m expressing that things are unfair,” he explains. “Obviously, things shouldn’t be unfair, but also it’s okay to think that things are unfair, because they are unfair. My music is about being gay, and a lot of times it’s about being brown. Even if people are not exactly those things, I think the biggest takeaway should be that certain things are okay just because they happen or they happen to you. I’m like, ‘Get pissed! Be angry and say that you’re upset.’ You don’t have to even say it to anyone else, but say it in a song. Say it in your diary. Say it to your friends.“ As he gives those emotions a safe space to exist within his art, it will come as no surprise when Asher Finlon’s name is one the world becomes quite familiar with. “Lying Art”, from Infinity Coup, alongside his other work, is out now on all digital platforms.
- Logan Bandi
