Just a matter of weeks after Split Enz alumni unveiled their latest songs under the Forenzics moniker, the somewhat nascent group have now shared the clip to their newest single, the immersive “Premiere Fois”.
Having first announced the Forenzics project last year, the inspiration behind its existence came about when producer Phil Manzanera alerted Split Enz founder Tim Finn to an old rehearsal tape of his former band. Inspired to effectively reimagine a number of these older recordings as new tracks, Finn soon teamed up with old bandmate Eddie Rayner to form Forenzics, with a handful of tracks arriving shortly after.
Now, with their COVID-postponed album, Shades and Echoes, set to be released early next year, Forenzics have shared the official clip to their latest track, “Premiere Fois”.
A slick little piece of eclectic pop-rock, “Premiere Fois: (French for, ‘First time’), sees Finn channelling the likes of Serge Gainsbourg as he sings in French. Pairing the track with a noir film clip, the Stephen Langdon-directed video sees Finn and Rayner (along with Gus the dog) stepping into an almost surreal world as they perform the track.
“I felt an urge to sing in French, possibly from our family having had a Serge Gainsbourg moment over the months preceding these recordings,” Finn explained of the track’s origins.
“I had some lyrics I’d written in English, but once I began translating them, responding to the suggestively “euro” atmosphere in the instrumental track Ed gave me, and accepting the forced changes in scan, syllables, rhymes etc that translation brings in its wake, I discovered how much I now preferred them.”
Much like the decision to utilise musical fragments of their past to create a cohesive whole, both “Premiere Fois” and the remainder of Shade and Echoes is a mesmerising look into the songwriting and compositional process of artists such as Finn and Rayner, and captures two musical masterminds at their eclectic and electric best.
Forenzics’ “Premiere Fois” is out now, while Shade and Echoes will be released on February 4th, 2022.
