How much sympathy can a guy get when he sings about his broken heart while the world is falling apart? Not much I'm afraid. If however there are two constants in this world, one is that it is always falling apart, and the other is that troubadours of love will always tell us stories we can relate to. This particular troubadour is German-born singer-songwriter Patrick Zimmer, a.k.a. Finn, and The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers You Can Own is his latest effort. Having earned the respect of artists such as Jose Gonzalez and Ólafur Arnalds with his previous two releases, Finn recorded his third album in the catacombs of a 14th century church in the city of St. Pauli and that sense of withdrawal from the world is apparent in the recordings.

Finn makes music that has the intention to quiet the soul; he does this using strings, cymbals and trombones that often bring to mind Sigur Rós, as well as Radiohead. His falsetto voice makes the comparisons to the aforementioned bands even more inevitable. Being compared to two bands that are so respected and influential would normally be considered a compliment, but not when pretty much every other singer-songwriter that exists makes music that sounds like theirs. Finn probably did not do this consciously, but it seems that making music that is original is more difficult for artists of this genre than for those of others.

There are moments in the album where Mr. Zimmer's low-tempo compositions bring out a feeling of internal peace and joy, such as in “Truncheon Sound.” Unfortunately, after awhile they become repetitive - something Sigur Rós tend to avoid by richening their sound with experimentations, and the lack thereof is this album's biggest downfall. The Best Low-Priced Heartbreakers... never takes off, a problem that wouldn't necessarily be solved by a different, more upbeat tempo. Another problem, which is not Finn's fault of course, is that his voice often becomes annoying. Not having the most musical voice isn't always an impediment to singing wonderful songs (something that has been proven numerous times in the past), but on this album it often becomes a hindrance.

I hate discouraging young musicians, especially when they're so honest with their art, but this I'm afraid is not an album for everyone. It is a very personal creation, and like most personal creations, it doesn't always resonate with those who experience it. I'm afraid that I am among those people.

-John Kontos