8/10

There is something quietly cinematic about the moment day slips into night. Colours soften, shadows lengthen, and familiar places suddenly feel different. Finnegan Tui captures that exact sensation on 'Dusk', a collection that sits beautifully between intimacy and enormity, documenting the fragile transition from infatuation to something far more complicated.

The EP immediately establishes itself as a series of emotional snapshots stitched together by atmosphere and memory. The singer-songwriter has always possessed a gift for creating music that feels rooted in the natural world, but here he broadens his palette considerably. Acoustic foundations remain present, yet they are surrounded by vast electronic landscapes, subtle rhythmic pulses, and immersive production choices that allow each song to breathe beyond its folk origins.

The EP’s opening moments of 'Someday' establish this beautifully. Tui’s voice arrives with remarkable restraint, never demanding attention yet impossible to ignore. And that vulnerability becomes the emotional anchor for everything that follows.

Musically, the project thrives on contrast. Delicate fingerpicked passages dissolve into towering crescendos. Sparse arrangements gradually blossom into expansive environments. And moments that begin as personal reflections suddenly feel communal, as though private emotions are being projected onto a much larger canvas.

But what separates Tui from many of his contemporaries is his ability to balance sophistication with accessibility. The production is ambitious without becoming self-indulgent, layering textures with meticulous care while ensuring the songs themselves remain at the centre of the experience. Every swelling synth, distant echo, and carefully placed rhythm serves the emotional narrative from beginning to end.

Perhaps most impressive is how vividly 'Dusk' translates the energy of human connection into sound. You can almost imagine these tracks unfolding in a packed room, where individual experiences merge into something collective.

With this new EP, Finnegan Tui delivers his most complete artistic statement yet. Richly textured, emotionally intelligent, and quietly breathtaking, 'Dusk' confirms the New Zealand artist as one of the most compelling voices operating at the intersection of modern folk and atmospheric alternative music today.