A new Craig Finn solo album feels like an old friend showing up with new stories from back home. Moreso than his Hold Steady tales, his solo endeavors are calmer, sadder, you can hear it in his voice. He sounds like he can breathe better. A Legacy of Rentals opens with a classic Finn eulogy in “Messing With The Settings” and ends with a celebration of trashed hotel rooms in “This Is What It Looks Like” (as in “this is what it looks like when we’re joyful”). In between are songs about birthdays, the ritual of nicknaming, friendship and betrayal, all scored to a crack backing band rich in bass and the occasional bleeping keyboard. The horns on “Birthdays” help elevate it to one of the best songs Finn has written period, with lines like “it’s nice to know there’s someone in this world who’s always known me” cutting deeper the more they’re repeated. Craig knows how to suss out the things we say that reveal too much about ourselves, and puts them on display for all of us to reckon with.