Ninja Tune - This Is The Thing

Fink
This Is The Thing
Video

Fink's new single, This Is The Thing - Due for release on August 13th 2007 - is set to be one of the singles of the year. Over a beautifully simple, falling country blues, Fink displays his new found confidence with a vocal performance of superb poise and heart-ache as he takes aim at the very core of modern relationships: 'And the things that keep me alive/Keep me alone.'

Now 'This Is The Thing' has a video to match. Directed by Keith McCarthy (who has directed innovative adverts for Playstation 3 and Viva! but is new to the music promo format), the video was shot in a single take and uses a clever conceit to make the theme of the song concrete. As the camera slowly revolves around Fink we see the relationship he is singing about go wrong and the trappings of it - pictures, decorations, the walls of the flat they live in - all disappear. At its conclusion the girl herself is seen walking out, not of their flat, but the giant, impersonal warehouse the protagonists now find themselves in.

Beautifully shot (at double speed, to give the action a smoothed-out, dreamlike effect), with a great concept and a little bit of 'how did they do that?' magic which will demand repeated viewings, it's the perfect promo to accompany an incredibly accomplished song.

'This Is The Thing' is set to blow any lazy comparisons out of the water and establish Fink as one of the pre-eminent singer-songwriters in the UK. This is a big, sophisticated yet raw, heartfelt, beautiful record. It's Fink's time. This is the thing...

The Album 'Distance and Time' is released on 1st October