Split Enz – True Colours (Yellow Vinyl, 40th Anniversary Edition)

Split Enz's True Colours was the album that turned the band's artful eccentricity into a sharper pop language in January 1980, becoming the most commercially successful record of their career. Recorded in Melbourne in late 1979 and produced by David Tickle, it caught Split Enz at a moment of real focus: the songs are leaner, catchier and still unmistakably their own, with Neil Finn's "I Got You" helping push the group to international success.

What makes True Colours last is the balance inside the band. Tim Finn brings emotional weight to songs like "I Hope I Never" and "Poor Boy", while Neil Finn's writing adds a bright, immediate melodic pull. Eddie Rayner's keyboards and instrumentals give the album much of its movement and atmosphere, and the band played with a live, in-the-room energy that the group itself later singled out as central to the record's spirit.

This 40th anniversary edition goes further than a routine remaster. Working from freshly digitised audio taken from the original album tapes, Eddie Rayner rebuilt the album from the original recordings for a new mix designed to restore the sound of the 1979 masters rather than simply polish later versions. That makes this pressing especially appealing if you want to hear why True Colours became the high point of early Split Enz: concise new wave pop, strong band interplay, and a set of songs that still feels unusually cohesive.

Features

• Yellow Vinyl, 40th Anniversary Edition
• New mix by Eddie Rayner from freshly digitised audio taken from the original album tapes
• Remixed and remastered edition