After the split, veteran musos tie up loose enz

It has taken more than four decades for Tim Finn to realise an idea that first struck him during the recording of Split Enz’s sophomore album Second Thoughts, writes David Skipwith.

A‘We were always looking ahead. It’s taken me a long time to want to look back, and to want to savour it.’ TIM FINN

n idea that first struck Tim Finn 45 years ago has finally come to fruition. The co-founder of Split Enz, one of New Zealand’s most treasured singers and musicians, and former bandmate Eddie Rayner, have reunited to revisit and rework pieces of old songs into fresh material for their new project Forenzics.

‘‘It was just the timing. I don’t know why it happened,’’ Finn said. ‘‘But two old friends, it was a really lovely time for us to reconnect.’’

The pair have crafted 15 songs for their upcoming debut album Shade and Echoes, the seeds of which were first planted during the recording of Split Enz’s sophomore album Second Thoughts at Basing Street Studios in London in 1976.

An observation from Brian Eno, who had stopped by the control room to see how his former Roxy Music bandmate Phil Manzanera was producing the Kiwi rock band, gave Finn the idea to flesh out a 25-second section of the track Walking Down a Road. ‘‘I wasn’t in the control room, but somebody said to me, ‘oh, he made a point of saying he liked that one piece’, which is three minutes 47 seconds in,’’ said Finn.

Inspired by The Fab Four’s more progressive and experimental songwriting, Finn recognised the potential to elaborate on that snippet, though the idea would percolate in his mind for another four decades.

‘‘We were always looking for ways to break the pattern of a song, which The Beatles had influenced us a lot with songs like I Am the Walrus and Strawberry Fields.

‘‘All of a sudden, the simple song structure didn’t seem to matter any more. It was a very exciting time for music. And so it stayed in the back of my mind for 45 years.’’

Finn and Rayner began collaborating again in 2018, sending each other digital files back and forth between their Auckland homes, and within the next year they ‘‘basically had most of the album’’.

Rayner also provided the basis for other Forenzics songs by cutting up and editing ‘‘wonderful, evocative atmospheric tracks’’ from his instrumental project Double Life, over which Finn wrote original lyrics and recorded vocals.

‘‘The album ended up half relating back to early Enz, and then half was more recent material,’’ said Finn. ‘‘We kept it to the early first two or three Enz albums: Mental Notes, Dizrythmia. And we did this one track where we use the section of the intro to Give It a Whirl.’’

Finn admits part of the reason for the lengthy delay in him realising his vision for Forenzics was a desire to move on after the break-up of Split Enz in 1984.

Of course the new group’s name continues the Enz tradition, following Rayner’s

1996 ENZSO collaboration with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the 2005 Split Enz live album Extravagenza.

‘‘We were always looking ahead. It’s taken me a long time to want to look back, and to want to savour it. It was a long time ago, but all of a sudden, I felt very in the moment with that music, and it stirred up memories and themes and ideas.’’

Never one to collect news clippings or band merchandise from the Split Enz era, Finn has a more nostalgic perspective these days. He was recently gifted a box of the band’s original T-shirts from the early 80s, and his daughter is now the proud wearer of a blue Time and Tide tracksuit from their 1982 tour of Canada.

‘‘It wouldn’t fit me. It’s too small, but my daughter is very happy. She loves it.

‘‘I wish I’d taken one of every T-shirt we ever had, every poster, because they were all designed by Noel Crombie or

Rob Gillies. It was always really super fine work.’’

Forenzics are hopeful they will play live shows next year sometime, and Finn expects their album will resonate with long-time Split Enz fans.

‘‘It’s going to be fun for the fans of early Split Enz especially, to go back and listen through the tracks. We call it Shades and Echoes because there are little shades and echoes everywhere of that period.’’

Forenzics debut album Shades and Echoes is out on February 4.