With every release, New Zealand’s eminent musical export grew ever more confident in their skin, gradually stripping away the ‘70s art-rock bombast to reveal a refined pop precision that turned them into beloved ‘80s hitmakers. On 1982’s chart-topping Time and Tide, their seventh album in seven years, Split Enz struck a canny balance between earnestness and eccentricity, offering up their most personal and ambitious art-pop triumph. Siblings Tim and Neil Finn split songwriting duties nearly equally, bringing out each other’s visceral whims as they navigate inner demons and the state of their isolated homeland. On the heels of a failed marriage, Tim digs deep into his fresh emotional wounds. “I need a dragon slayer who can save me from myself,” he hollers on the fidgety, funked-up opener “Dirty Creature”, before alluding to his nervous breakdown on the carnivalesque pop hit “Six Months In a Leaky Boat” and buoyant sea shanty “Haul Away”. Neil matches his brother’s manic intensity in a somewhat more fantastical manner, with the woozy, winding psychedelia of “Giant Heartbeat” and the ominous experimental rock workout of “Log Cabin Fever”. Keyboardist Eddie Raynor—who especially shines on the cinematic instrumental “Pioneer”—adds weight and texture, while drummer Noel Crombie and bassist Nigel Griggs keep it all moving at a heart-racing pace.