Since their inception a decade ago under the moniker Ohmme, the Chicago-based duo Finom has existed as a unique paradox: Co-vocalists, co-songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham manage to synchronize their 50/50 contributions to the project while seemingly pulling each art-pop composition in opposing directions. Across three albums, the duo has honed their craft like a pair of chefs so familiar with their kitchen environs that they can perform their respective duties within a unified project with their eyes closer without so much as bumping into each other, while that unified project comes out sounding like a well curated vintage shop peddling only in the chicest relics of a floral bygone era.
To put it a bit more concretely, Stewart and Cunningham have always had a good thing going as musical collaborators, though their mutual interest in outside-of-the-box indie-pop sounds most fully locked in on their first record under the new moniker, Not God. Much like the music, the duo’s songwriting can be taken at face value or as pure fantasy on each of its nine songs, with a track about mythical creatures proving equally compelling as a metaphor about the “challenges” portion of the hero’s journey as it does a tightly composed post-punk ode to Odysseus.
With the record out today via Joyful Noise, Stewart and Cunnigham took us through each of those tracks, discussing how the lyrics came together—whether through existential prodding or randomized text generation riffing on haircuts—as well as sharing anecdotes from the album’s recording at Wilco’s loft. Stream along and read their words below.
1. “Haircut”
Macie: This song started off as a creative challenge between myself and NNAMDÏ sometime between 2020 and 2021. We would each text each other one word, use our text generator to randomize some lyrics based off of that, and then create an entire song on our own utilizing only that text and whatever musical ideas came to mind. The original demo was made entirely with the OP-1 and voice, and bringing it into our Finom world felt like a huge “duh.”
Sima: I like to think this is a song about your phone robot helping uncover your inner desire to say “no.”
2. “Dirt”
Macie: This is one of my personal favorite songs on the record. It’s one of the gifts of being in a band with two songwriters: Sometimes someone brings something in and you identify with it so hard, you can’t stop thinking about it or wanting to play it. Sima brought in this song and immediately this bass line came to mind. We grooved on it for a while, and when we came up with the harmonies we wanted them to feel as open and airy as possible.
Sima: I think the song is about trying—putting yourself back out there and not letting fear of judgment paralyze you in solitude.
3. “Naked”
Macie: I feel like this song really explores the question of “How did I get here?” The bass tone on this song is one of my favorites—there’s a really awesome sub amp at the Wilco loft that we used to get this really thick low end.
4. “Hungry”
Macie: Recording this song is one of my strongest memories from this session. Just Sima and I jumping up and down and screaming “Now I only feed myself” into the microphones in this big, open room. This song is really close to me, and one that’s really developed in meaning since I’ve written it. I’ve come to realize so much of it is about choosing what feeds you in life, what feeds you overall. Sima’s daughter is singing and giggling on the track, I’m screaming on the track, Sima and I are both shouting this phrase, and it feels like everyone’s personal interpretation of “feeding themself” comes through in this wonderful and powerful way. It’s a huge release.
5. “Not God”
Sima: We’re living in a time of big ego. This song was really about watching a person deify themselves and start to exert power over the people that surround them, and cheer them on. It’s about how that distorts your perception of reality. The mantra of the chorus is one that I think is good to recite to yourself whenever you feel that need to control the world around you and cease to understand how to perceive your place in the universe. And yes, it’s about what a fucking psycho Donald Trump is and the cult that’s built up around him over the last decades that enables his fascist bullshit.
6. “A Petunia”
Sima: This song was a later addition to the record, but thematically, it fits it. It’s about a kind of ego struggle. It’s a reaction to the bully that blossoms in people when they’re hiding behind something—the internet, a persona, a struggle.
7. “Cyclops”
Sima: Your band is your own personal odyssey. You have to want to go on it, you have to fight for it, you have to live for it. I think this song is reacting to some of the subtle undercurrents and mental demons we’ve had to fight off when it comes to persisting as a band. But also, really, thinking about battling a cyclops and all of the injury you endure to make it through to the other side.
8. “Cardinal”
Macie: Cardinals represent many things—to me they symbolize steadfastness and a sign that I’m heading in the right direction. I once took a walk to clear my mind along Lake Michigan in the dead of winter. Everything was covered in ice and snow, and the trees were all dormant. As I was about to leave, I looked up and saw a bright red cardinal sitting in the tree. He looked so beautiful and the white snow was so stark in contrast, and that moment just stuck in my head. Repeating that phrase at the end: “No, I don’t feel it / Yes, I don’t mean it” kind of represents breaking out of emotional habits and patterns. Its cathartic as fuck to sing it live.
9. “As You Are”
Sima: This is a love song about your first best friend, the first person you coveted. I often feel like I want to plumb the romantic elements of friendships—they’re so special and nourishing and where you exercise the imagination that will fuel your creativity for your whole life. When we brought this song to Jeff [Tweedy] he helped us explore new chordal harmonizations that really unlocked a deep, powerful feeling in the song. Now it makes us all cry every time we hear it.
