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“Say It Is So” is kind of a noisy album at times. But it’s a cool noisy. An interesting noisy. And the music overlying the noise is really wonderful.

Tim Finn started his musical life as one of the brothers (along with Neil) who headed up the New Zealand band “Split Enz” back in the eighties. The big hair he had then is deliciously silver now, and his voice has an earthy huskiness that gives one the impression of someone who has gone through some tough times, but who, instead of buckling under them, came out on the other side stronger and wiser for having survived them.

In fact, that’s pretty much the feel of the music, too. I bought “Say It Is So” after hearing the song “Currents” on the radio during an especially rough patch in my professional life. The lyrics spoke to me then, because they were about letting go and letting things happen naturally. I especially love this part of the refrain: “You don’t have to hurry, there’s no need to worry/The currents will carry you away/Not so much swimming as being swept along.” It appeals to the Taoist in me I really wish I could sustain for longer periods of time.

But the rest of the collection is just as nice to listen to, and the lyrics are consistently lovely and upbeat. “Underwater Mountain,” which opens the CD, is a smooth reassurance that we all feel lousy sometimes and need to find a place to go inside ourselves where we feel better. (In this case, it’s a “beautiful mountain under the sea.”) “Good Together” always makes me smile thanks to the warm acoustic guitar and the lyrics that make me think SO much about the relationship I have with my husband--the singer just doesn’t feel “right” unless he’s with the one he loves, preferably at home.

And I love how every song on the CD seems to start with some kind of, well, interesting noise, then moves into a song about something lost that’s been found, sadness that’s turned to happiness, desperation that’s turned to hope. The whole album is just a nice, feel-good hug without being sappy and sentimental. And the music is so very interesting. It is by times rocky, folky, funky, poppy, electronic…

Well, like I said, it’s just INTERESTING. And on days that are a little too gray, a little too sad, and a little too disheartening, it makes me feel better about the way things are, and they way they can be in the future. As Finn sings in “Rest,” the last song on the album, “...it’s time to gather your strength for what lies ahead.” This CD helps me do just that.