Finesca II by Simonne Draper: Review

by admin February 18, 2026

February 18, 2026

Simonne Draper has the rare combo of conservatory-trained classical guitar chops and a genuine curiosity for modern texture, so it makes total sense that she’d link up with British downtempo wizard Jon Kennedy for “Finesca II” (released Dec 19, 2025). Draper isn’t new to getting her music out into the world. She’s a Czech Composers Society member, a Recording Academy voting member, and she’s already put out the acclaimed Portraits in Guitar (2019) and Silence of Eclipse (2024). But “Finesca II” feels like a different kind of flex.

The track opens in a hush, with ethereal vocalisations, like light moving through a cathedral ceiling. Draper’s voice isn’t treated as the main character here—it’s more like an instrument in the room, a halo around the guitar. Then a strummed chord lands with a clean, woody pang, and you can almost picture fingers on nylon strings, close-miked and intimate. The space is doing half the storytelling: little pauses, little breaths, that classical sense of restraint… but it doesn’t stay polite for long.

Soon, the rhythm wakes up and starts pacing. A high-energy, bustling percussion line kicks in, pulsating, insistent, and the piece grows fast, hitting in sharp bouts like waves slapping the shore. That’s where Kennedy’s touch shows: the beat frames the acoustic elements, giving the guitar something electric to argue with. The arrangement keeps the focus on structure and momentum, sliding between calm and motion without ever getting cluttered.

What’s especially satisfying is how “Finesca II” balances opposites, with warm nylon-string detail against contemporary sound design, floating vocal texture against grounded rhythmic drive. It’s got that “classical composer brain” in the way motifs develop, but also a modern producer’s sense of tension-and-release. And with mastering handled by Alex Psaroudakis, the whole thing lands crisp and dimensional, with every shimmer, thump, and string resonance sitting exactly where it should.

In the end, “Finesca II” feels like a bridge between worlds. Check it out on Spotify.