The Flaws Of The Land

The Flaws have just re-entered the fray after some time away, armed with a second album, Constant Adventure, that builds on their assured debut Achieving Vagueness. It’s one of those rare modern albums without a weak link. They should be bubbling over with an eagerness to get the new material heard. So how does Finn feel on the eve of the launch?

“Unsure,” he admits. “I don’t know if we’re doing everything the right way, if it will all work out. We probably won’t know until about six months after the release. My one apprehension is that very few people have heard it – we haven’t gigged that much the past year.”
Finn is refreshingly honest throughout. Of Achieving Vagueness he says, “There were a couple of weak songs on it. We didn’t want that this time.”
If he’s hard on himself and his band, it’s an attitude that pays off in the creative process. Constant Adventure is self-produced, a fact that was mainly down to money.
“We didn’t have any,” laughs Finn. “So we thought we’d try it ourselves. We mixed it as well. I’m glad nobody else came in at that stage because I don’t think they would have gotten what we were trying to do. In some places there’s a chaotic element and I think they might have just cleaned that up.”
Alone in studio, the foursome were free to try new ideas and take advantage of improved technique.
“There’s a lot we did that we never thought we’d be fit to do,” Finn admits. “There was one harmony on the first record and that was it! We definitely started using the voice more as an instrument.”
To ensure they captured a sound that was truly them, Finn isolated himself from all other new music.
“I had a blackout of about six months where I didn’t listen to anything. I wouldn’t even have the radio on. I’d listen to an audiobook if I was driving somewhere. I went through all the Sherlock Holmes novels! I wanted it to be 100 per cent us."
If the musicianship stepped up a gear, they also wanted the album to have a cohesive lyrical theme – one of escape.
“These songs are supposed to be about the people who leave, and those that get left behind. And a lot of innocence – I’m a grown man, but I love the idea of writing from a child’s point of view.”
The band have remained where they are, still living on the border of Carrickmacross and Dundalk. In the time they’ve been away they’ve seen other bands drift away. “I’m sure we fell out of all loops that ever existed. We’re total loners now!” Finn laughs. “But it’s just another challenge. It’s not like we’re unlikeable! We’ll make new friends.”
So where have they been?
“We put out a single in 2009 and that was a big mistake. It wasn’t the right music, it wasn’t something we’d put on an album in a million years. We thought, ‘Okay, we’ve gone off the boil a little bit, let’s just take our time and do it really well.’”
Mission accomplished. Now they just have to get out and play it. At this point, Finn relaxes, speaking with true confidence for the first time.
“We’ll probably take it up a notch in January. It’s all ready to go – we’re just waiting on the call!”

Constant Adventure is out now.