Album #133: Split Enz - True Colours

Split Enz
True Colours (1980)

True Colours marked the commercial arrival of Split Enz. I say 'commercial' because the band had actually produced several albums before this, featuring densely packed, bombastically arranged musical epics (some of which, if I'm honest, are seriously bloody good). However the success of I See Red, plus some well received poppy festival sets in 1979, convinced Tim Finn that melodic new wave pop was the way to go.

So it was that this album was the first to wholly pursue the powerpop sound, and consequently it was the launching pad for a few years of towering success (and arguably the launching pad for Tim's younger brother Neil on his path to musical glory.) I've never heard an Enz album in its entirety so I'm looking forward to it.

The Album

True Colours manages to fuse Tim Finn's desire for more melodic, poppy arrangements with elements of the band's earlier, more eclectic sound. Mostly, this is done through the magical keyboards of Eddie Rayner, who in my view elevates this album from good to great. His synthesiser stamps its authority all over this album, creating amazingly varied sounds and textures (added to that, he's a hell of a player). Though to be fair, he is working with some tremendous Finn-crafted material.

The album is famous for providing several of the band's best known songs. I Got You (Neil Finn's first truly great pop song) is worth every bit of its reputation. A great contrast between the uneasy verses, with their staccato guitar and synth swirls, and the dense, hooky choruses, is a great deal of the song's charm - additionally, the chorus is musically magnificent, rather simple yet rich. I Hope I Never is one of my all time favourite Enz tracks. Tim Finn delivers a fucking glorious vocal, paired with his own beautiful piano playing which packs a great emotional punch. While it's closer to baroque pop than anything, it still features Rayner's immense synth strings to add even more grandeur to the arrangement. Poor Boy is the third well known single, and it's decent; again, the mood is somewhat blue, helped by the morose chord progressions and Tim Finn's plaintive vocal. Nigel Griggs provides a notable bass line, but, again, the star of the piece is Rayner. His ethereal, spacey synth notes add texture to the verses, while the choruses are an extremely memorable keyboard line.

Outside the singles/well known tunes though, there's still some gold to be found - in fact it would be fair to say that the album features very few truly weak spots. Shark Attack is a bundle of high-octane energy, pumping out a punk-style tempo fused with synth-driven pop. It's a great opening track because of its frenetic nature (even if a recent superb cover by Dan Sultan and The Break shows that perhaps this song should have been a surf rock tune from the beginning). I Wouldn't Dream Of It is rather good new wave, right down to the heavy synth, groovy bassline and simplistic guitar melody, while Neil Finn's Missing Person keeps the new wave feel going but draws parallels with The Police. I also really enjoyed Nobody Takes Me Seriously, which shows the Enz's fascination with offbeat arrangements, jarringly discordant chord changes and distinctly un-pop pop. Finally, closing track The Choral Sea is a fascinating listen. Sonically it has more in common with the band's early, sprawling sound; swirling keyboard lines, a funky bass line with a very minor key change, some disco-style guitar rhythm work....all matched to a distinct disco backbeat from Malcolm Green. After about ninety seconds it dawns on you that you are listening to a Split Enz disco instrumental, and it may well be the best disco instrumental track ever recorded. The band maintain interest through the foreground of the soundscape - keyboard solos, drum and percussion breaks, guitar solos.....it's nowhere near being a pop tune and yet it's one of the album's gems, precisely because it has no intention of being a pop song. It's one hell of a way to end an album....

The Verdict

Deservedly regarded as one of the great Kiwi musical releases (NO AUSTRALIA YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM SO PISS OFF), True Colours really is a great pop album, though unlike today's idea of 'pop' it contains great lyrics, technically proficient performances and a willingness to find ways to create individuality within a pop framework. Most pleasingly, there's plenty of great material outside the big singles, and I think that's always the sign of a great album.

Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.

My rating: 8.6/10

Standout Tracks

I Got You

I Hope I Never

The Choral Sea

I Wouldn't Dream Of It