Forenzics - Shades And Echoes (LP)

Shades and Echoes finds Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner circling back to the fertile ground they helped till with Split Enz, then planting new songs in that soil. Released in early 2022 under the name Forenzics, the record leans into memory as a creative engine, not a museum. The premise is simple and quietly brilliant. Take fragments from the early Enz era, the odd motif or chord shape that haunted Mental Notes and its London rework Second Thoughts, and write forward from there. You can hear that most clearly on Walking, a standout that pulls a thread from Walking Down a Road and knits it into something fresh, tender, and a little uncanny. It is less a cover than a conversation with the past.

Finn’s voice, sandy and humane, wears the years beautifully, and Rayner’s keyboards are as agile and theatrical as ever. He can conjure circus lights one moment, then switch to icy elegance the next, and the arrangements give him space to do both. The pair always had a knack for turning art rock zigzags into pop that sticks, and that skill is alive here. Songs sway between sly, off-kilter verses and choruses that feel like the sun breaking through heavy curtains. The title tells you a lot. There are shades, as in new shapes cast by old structures, and echoes, the familiar melodies that drift in like a memory you cannot place until the second chorus.

What keeps the record engaging is how specific it feels. Rather than broad nostalgia, it evokes the crooked architecture of those mid 70s Enz songs, the cabaret gleam, the sudden tempo pivots, the sense of theater. Rayner’s piano figures often suggest the tricky intervals of Stranger Than Fiction or Titus, yet the lyrics look outward, curious and reflective instead of backward-looking. Finn has always been good at writing to time, to seasons in a life, and he finds a calm pulse here, balancing wordplay with clean, heartfelt lines. The result is a set that feels lived in. If you once chased down New Zealand imports or argued about which pressing of Mental Notes sounded best, this record scratches that itch while still surprising you.

For context, Split Enz’s Second Thoughts was produced by Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera in London, an early link that helped sharpen the band’s eccentric edges. You can feel that lineage in Shades and Echoes, the way guitars and keys flicker in and out, the tasteful tension that sits under the choruses. The album does not drown in references though. It uses them like a painter uses underdrawing, a guide for the shape of the song. That approach gives Walking its glow, and it turns a few slower pieces into quiet stunners, full of air and detail, the kind of tracks that reveal themselves on a third listen when you notice a stray piano countermelody or a whispered backing vocal tucked hard left.

Press play on a decent setup and the mix folds out neatly. Rayner’s keyboards occupy the center with warm clarity, drum parts snap without crowding the low end, and Finn is right there in the room. Shades and Echoes vinyl does the record favors, letting the dynamics breathe and the piano transients bite just enough. If you hunt for Forenzics vinyl, you will likely find copies filed near Split Enz reissues, and that feels right. It belongs next to your clean copy of True Colours, a little bridge between the theatrical beginnings and the pop craft that followed.

One of the pleasures here is hearing two longtime collaborators trust each other’s instincts. There is an ease in the performances that comes from years of shared language. When a verse pivots into a middle eight that feels vintage Enz, you can almost see the grin in the booth. That spirit is why this does not come off as an exercise. It plays like a fresh batch of songs that happen to carry the DNA of a band that changed art pop in Australasia. Critics picked up on that thread when the album landed, noting how the pair reconciled their adventurous past with a present-day calm that suits them.

If you are browsing a Melbourne record store and see this sleeve peeking out, take it home. If you prefer to buy Forenzics records online, this one is a safe add to cart. It is a rewarding listen for anyone who fell for the crooked beauty of early Enz, and it is a welcoming entry point for new ears. For collectors building a small stack of Forenzics albums on vinyl, this feels like the cornerstone, and it quietly boosts the case for revisiting history as a creative prompt rather than a box set. Vinyl records Australia shops have been stocking it steadily, which tells you the word of mouth is doing its work. The past is present here, but the songs point forward, and that is the trick.