{"id":2408699,"date":"2026-05-09T05:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2408699"},"modified":"2026-05-09T05:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:04:41","slug":"split-enz-tease-new-album-ahead-of-first-tour-in-17-years-wed-make-a-really-good-record-now-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/split-enz-tease-new-album-ahead-of-first-tour-in-17-years-wed-make-a-really-good-record-now-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Split Enz tease new album ahead of first tour in 17 years: \u2018We\u2019d make a really good record now\u2019 | Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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M<\/span>any things can kill you in the music business. For Split Enz, New Zealand\u2019s first internationally successful rock group, the most lethal poison was hairspray \u2013 or it should have been. \u201cHow did I not die?\u201d marvels bandleader Tim Finn, whose head \u2013 at its vertiginous peak \u2013 resembled an upturned paintbrush.<\/p>\n

Sitting next to him, percussionist Noel Crombie grins as Finn continues the story. \u201cNoel would lacquer merciless amounts of this toxic spray \u2026 the makeup would start to run but the hair would just somehow \u2026 sit there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crombie, for his part, flapped about on stage with what looked like a pair of bat\u2019s wings sprouting from his head.<\/p>\n

Finn is now the proud owner of one of the best heads of hair a nearing 74-year-old pop music veteran could wish for.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Their hair may be grey but their outfits are still colourful. Split Enz, live on stage in Hamilton, New Zealand, earlier this month. <\/span> Photograph: Tom Grut (Frog Productions)\/PR IMAGE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Younger brother Neil \u2013 later of Crowded House \u2013 sailed through his Split Enz years with a neat Dennis the Menace-style bowl cut. He\u2019s now making up for lost time with so much product you can see his mop from the moon.<\/p>\n

Tim Finn and Crombie are resting at their hotel in Wellington, the day after the third show of their Forever Enz tour \u2013 the band\u2019s first since 2009.<\/p>\n

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On Saturday, they\u2019ll play their home town of Auckland (which welcomed the beginning of the Enz in 1972) before kicking off a run of Australian concerts next week.<\/p>\n

So, is this really the end of the Enz?<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s announced that it\u2019s the last time,\u201d says Finn \u2013 which suggests that, if there\u2019s to be a next time, they\u2019d best not leave it another 17 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever say never,\u201d nods Crombie, who has just turned 73.<\/p>\n

From 1977 (when Neil Finn replaced founding member Phil Rudd on guitar) to 1984, Split Enz was one of Australasia\u2019s biggest groups. They amassed an immense roll-call of hits: the international smash I Got You, Six Months in a Leaky Boat, Message to My Girl, One Step Ahead, History Never Repeats and many more.<\/p>\n

After folky beginnings, they became new wave innovators, their nervy, brainy earworms spearheaded by the songwriting talents of the Finn brothers and the visionary designs (and occasional spoon solos) of artistic director Crombie.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the Finns went their own ways; there have been only very sporadic Split Enz reunions since.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Split Enz in 1976 in Amsterdam \u2013 when the hair was everything.<\/span> Photograph: Gijsbert Hanekroot\/Redferns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But with a global resurgence of interest, there are good reasons for the group to carry on. There\u2019s a new box set, Enzyclopedia; an 18-month rollout of separate vinyl reissues of their nine studio albums; a forthcoming coffee-table book dedicated to Crombie\u2019s ever-evolving visual presentation of the band, and more. All of which fuels further demand.<\/p>\n

With wind in their sails, there may even be a new studio album \u2013 but if it happens, it\u2019s a way off.<\/p>\n

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Neil remains committed to Crowded House, after the release of Dreamers Are Waiting in 2021 began that band\u2019s own creative renaissance.<\/p>\n

Everyone has their own projects.<\/p>\n

In fact, Tim says, a new Split Enz album nearly happened about 20 years ago. The band was keen but he held out, preferring to remain solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one seems to carry a grudge about it,\u201d he says, sounding a bit relieved. \u201cI think we should make one more; I think we\u2019d make a really good record now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without new material, they\u2019re limited to a greatest-hits set, with just a few deeper cuts thrown in. Of course, no one minds \u2013 including the band, even as they step uneasily back into the slightly warped psychology of songs they wrote in their early to mid 20s. A song like Shark Attack, Finn admits, is \u201ca young man\u2019s statement but I can still get right inside it\u201d. Likewise the jealous mania of I See Red.<\/p>\n

Finn insists he\u2019s no longer an angry young man but when the song is performed, the fury is contagious: \u201cWhen the crowd hears I See Red, they go for it. It\u2019s a good expression of rage without hurting anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s new is the look.<\/p>\n

Finn says part of the incentive to get back together is curiosity about what Crombie will come up with as he designs the set, stage and costumes that made the band such a visually arresting spectacle when they relocated to Australia in 1975, shortly after the debut of colour television: \u201cWe just sit back and wait!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the peak of the glam era but both Finn and Crombie insist Split Enz felt no kinship with the movement. \u201cThere was no satin involved in anything,\u201d Crombie quips. Instead, he was inspired by vaudeville, circus acts and kabuki. \u201cI\u2019d just sit down and draw and it came out somehow at the end of a pencil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of it was a reaction to the conservatism of their surroundings while they were growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll our dads wore suits all the time and Noel was taking the suit and distorting it,\u201d Finn says. \u201cThe different heights of shoulders, different sleeve lengths, buttons that fastened off-centre. And the colours were primary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crombie\u2019s designs, Finn says, \u201ccorresponded exactly with the music\u201d \u2013 the sharp angles, the bold imagery, the attention-grabbing melodies.<\/p>\n

It also helped them transform: \u201cPart of the pre-performance ritual was getting dressed and made up. I think that was a really valuable thing for us, to feel like a cohesive unit when we went on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the spectacle, though, what keeps the audience coming back is the songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear Neil sing Message to My Girl and the whole room just floats,\u201d he says. \u201cYou see people grooving at the shows to Dirty Creature, and a lot of younger people now have never seen Split Enz. Of course there\u2019s also the diehards that come from way back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the ones on the walking frames,\u201d Crombie says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theguardian.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many things can kill you in the music business. For Split Enz, New Zealand\u2019s first internationally successful rock group, the most lethal poison was hairspray \u2013 or it should have been. \u201cHow did I not die?\u201d marvels bandleader Tim Finn, whose head \u2013 at its vertiginous peak \u2013 resembled an upturned paintbrush. Sitting next to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2408700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2408699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Split-Enz-tease-new-album-ahead-of-first-tour-in.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2408699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2408701,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408699\/revisions\/2408701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2408699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2408699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2408699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}