Finneas, many Grammys later, releases his debut full-length, 'Optimist'

Finneas, many Grammys later, releases his debut full-length, 'Optimist'

Scott Simon, Weekend Edition : It has been a tough year-and-a-half, as I don't have to tell you.
Is now the time for the Optimist?
Finneas O'Connell: To me the title Optimist is more aspirational – I think optimism is something I try to strive for.
At my most optimistic, I'm also the hardest working and the most successful.
Your song "The Kids Are All Dying" has kind of a devastating line – "I tried saving the world / but I got bored." What were you doing here?
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I was writing about heartbreak, or my own personal life, as there were sort of...
bigger things happening.
It's dual parts my own existential crisis like, 'Ah what am I doing, singing about my personal matters?' And also maybe a little bit the voice of the internet in the back of my head, chastising me if I'm saying something that's personal and if I'm not speaking out enough about an issue.