While Finneas’ best-known work (the songs we writes with/for his sister Billie Eilish) skews more alternative and pop, one of his strongest 2020 solo singles, “Can’t Wait To Be Dead,” goes more into soaring rock territory. It’s a big tune that served him well when he performed it for his debut The Late Show appearance last night.
Like most late-night TV performances these days, Finneas’ was pre-taped and filmed remotely, which has the drawback of no audience interaction but the benefit of more creative set design possibilities. For “Can’t Wait To Be Dead,” Finneas and his band took to a giant warehouse. The video was filmed as a single shot, and in it, they perform under a gigantic American flag, making for a striking and nicely shot visual.
Finneas previously said of the song, “I’m happy for this song to mean anything to anyone who listens to it but to me, it’s a song about my relationship with the internet. Especially in an election year. Especially during a pandemic. Sometimes, the internet makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me cry, sometimes it makes me hopeful. But sometimes, it really makes me wanna be dead.”
Meanwhile, Finneas was recently a part of chart history, as Kid Cudi’s “Beautiful Trip” (on which Finneas is a co-writer and co-producer) became the shortest song to ever grace the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Watch Finneas perform “Can’t Wait To Be Dead” above.