Kelly Finnigan & The Atonements

In the organizer's words:

Kelly Finnigan & The Atonements

Presented by Emerged Agency
12.02.2025 Cologne, Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
Admission: 19:00 hrs | Start: 20:00 hrs

Tour presenter: ByteFM

Distance as a measure of time and place informs Kelly Finnigan's A Lover Was Born with a toughness and grace that makes a virtue of passion. The Monophonics frontman's latest solo release follows in the best tradition of Midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar and the Bodie Recording Company. A Lover Was Born is a testament to the fact that these deep grooves are not limited to nostalgia, but lie at the burning heart of longing and hope.

The journey Finnigan takes the listener on in the eleven tracks of Lover reflects the state of movement and growth since his solo debut The Tales People Tell (2019). These two records mark the end of a prolific period that includes two Monophonics albums, a Christmas album, a mixtape and a whole host of production and engineering work for other artists (The Ironsides, Alanna Royale, The Sextones). "There's nothing better than making records," says Finnigan. "It feels like it's my destiny - the reason I was put on this earth."

Written in California, Ohio and Staten Island, Kelly Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and out of the studio. "I like working alone, but that's not the way you want to make a record.... Almost everyone I brought in for this album has worked with me, toured with me or spent a lot of time with me." Max and Joe Ramey (The Ironsides), Jimmy James (Parlor Greens), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and Jay Mumford (aka J-Zone) all contribute to the overall sound of A Lover Was Born.

Dramatic influences like Isaac Hayes (note the piano in "Be Your Own Shelter") and Jerry Ragovoy are worked into the uptempo Northern Soul numbers, resulting in stompers like "Get a Hold of Yourself" or "Chosen Few". Finnigan's interpretation of deep soul is brilliantly captured in "Walk Away from Me" and "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)", while boom bap permeates the hard-hitting tracks "His Love Ain't Real" and "Cold World". Slower songs like "Let Me Count the Reasons", the emotional "All That's Left" and the rousing album closer "Count Me Out" show the honest and tender side that has become Finnigan's calling card. His voice is raw and earthy - very much in the tradition of R&B shouters such as Otis Redding, Lee Moses and David Ruffin.

The songs on A Lover Was Born reconfigure the spliced and sampled DNA of hip-hop (extracted from crate diggers like Dilla and RZA) to create something new that emphasizes both the range and depth of soul while underscoring the timelessness of Finnigan's sound.

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