As the latest artist to be signed by Universal Music with hit songs topping the charts on both Spotify and Apple Music along with music videos with over 14 million views under his belt, Gen Z bedroom pop-star Finn Askew has just dropped his first major release, Peace EP, as he embarks on his break-out year.
Askew began to make a name for himself after his debut single Roses released in July 2020 despite the music industry being largely on pause due to the pandemic. With its blend of a variety of musical styles, ranging from jazzy piano ballads to groovy hip-hop beats and R&B inflected vocals with classic indie-centric songwriting, Roses stood out and gained millions of views on YouTube. The track has put Askew in the same category as other alt-pop artists, a genre that has become popular over the past few years, such as Post Malone, Cosmo Pyke, King Krule or Puma Blue to name a few.
The 19-year-old singer-songwriter and producer belongs to a new breed of musical maestros who love to experiment with different genres. For his latest EP, he mixed and matched various genres to create a new hybrid out of his bedroom and garage. In Peach EP, Askew managed to create tracks that blend different elements together through his very own sugar-coated pop filter. Moreover, the songs explore almost everything from the downtempo R&B and hip-hop of Roses to One Direction-esque bubblegum pop in Egotism, to distorted guitar indie rock in Peach.
(Photos: Universal Music Thailand)
"It's fun for me to fuse different genres to create something new which people have not heard before," explained Askew during a one-on-one interview with Life recently via Zoom. "Honestly I don't even know how to describe the sound on Peach EP because I thought every song was so different, but that is what I really wanted to do. I don't want people to listen to my songs and say that they all sound similar and be defined by one genre. I want people to say that this guy can do anything. That's what I wanted to do and I feel like I did quite well on it."
Apart from being a highly proclaimed artist in the UK last year, Askew is also hoping to grow his fanbase internationally with the success of Roses and Peach. He wants to captivate the Asian market in places like Indonesia, Thailand and especially South Korea, mainly due to the fact that singer Taeyong of the popular K-pop group NCT admitted to being a big fan of Askew's music and has even covered Peach on social media a few times.
Askew's songs are based on the lives of teenagers, whether it is about their everyday life to teen romance and angst.
"I've been writing songs for about seven years now, which is quite long but people always go, 'Oh, you're very young'. It's been such a long time but my task never changes. At first, I was composing and singing simple love songs but now there's a lot of change," he said. "I especially recommend Buttercup, which is the last song on the EP. It's a beautiful song about relationships and chilled out with good vibes. Also, Nicotine is also a very good song but not about cigarettes."
The cover of Peach EP.
Unlike many other artists from the UK, who mostly emerge from bigger cities like London or Manchester, Askew hails from Taunton, a small town in Somerset in the southwest countryside. Askew lived there during his childhood and was concealed from the lifestyle of the inner city. However, thanks to his parents' music collection and the help of the internet and social media, Askew and his craft is proof that interesting music can flourish in the most unexpected places.
"I'm a kid from a small town where there is no music scene at all but I've had so many musical influences from my diverse music taste," he said. "I listened to all kinds of music -- old and new -- but some of my new heroes are Matt Healy from The 1975 and Frank Ocean. I find them to be some of the greatest musicians of my generation."
Askew said that his hometown is the perfect spot to hide during the ongoing pandemic as he is able to breathe fresh air.
"We don't need to worry much about Covid-19 where I live. It's the southwest of England and predominantly countryside. So I have a lot of freedom. I can go on nice walks and get a lot of fresh air. I've got loads of friends and they only live like 10-minute walk away. And lately, I've been working on new music and demos," he said. "I mean yeah it [the pandemic] kind of stops you from doing some things, which is annoying because there's a lot to celebrate at the moment. But what you can do or celebrate can really happen when it's all over."
