By Khagan Aslanov
On her first-ever solo album, the alt-rock icon crafts a sonic journey through loss, nostalgia, and fearless experimentation.
The jam space is the unsung hero of our music-filled world, the essential element that flies under the radar, the behind-the-scenes scene where musicians discover the seeds of their success.
For Vancouver pop-rock duo FIONN, their jam space is the heart of their Mount Pleasant home, a basement rumpus room replete with shag rugs, string lights, and an old-school arcade machine. There, twin sisters Brianne and Alanna Finn-Morris aka FIONN wrote what would become their third studio album, I Might Start Smoking.
Situated in Mount Pleasant below Broadway, among a cornucopia of vintage threads, baked goods, and breweries, the pair have put together a practice space on par with their surrounding paradise. “We love it,” says Alanna. “It’s a dream,” adds Brianne.
In that divine den, they host karaoke nights and after parties. “Anytime we have a show in Vancouver, we’re like, let’s all go back to the basement, and we have jams with all these musicians,” says Brianne. “We have made so many great memories down there.” With an electric drum set, piano, guitars, bass, and mandolin, things can get full throttle.
That excitement carries through to I Might Start Smoking, with its punchy electric guitar, earworm pop hooks and playful lyrics. The singer-songwriters, who recently completed their first headlining tour, have perfected glittery grit, cultivating a sound that can withstand deep emotional exploration without sacrificing their feel-good formula. And just like their inviting and vibey basement, it pulls you in.
FIONN have finessed their unique celtic-infused pop-rock sound. Where their last album oozed pure pop, their latest sees a return to their roots as seasoned instrumentalists. “We love writing pop songs,” says Alanna, “but we really missed the organic instrumentation.”
And as they’ve come into their sound, so too have they discovered more comfort with their personal styles. “I think maybe a few years ago I would have been like, oh, I need to try and stick to an aesthetic, you know?” says Brianne. “And now I’m just like, oh, if I like something, I put it on.”
“Now I save the dressed up looks for the stage, cause that’s always really fun,” she continues. “To walk on stage in a big pair of boots and a skirt, feeling like you could stomp on somebody. Not that you would want to, but you just feel powerful, you know?”
Tapping into that powerful and playful energy, we’ve partnered with Brixton and invited ourselves into FIONN’s jam space to find out where fashion and music collide.
Brianne and Alanna Finn-Morris are both outfitted by Brixton Apparel | brixton.com
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