Phil Manzanera hooks up with Tim Finn for series of new EPs

Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera has teamed up with Split Enz and Crowded House singer songwriter Tim Finn for a series of new EPs.

The first, Caught By The Heart, is released on June 12, and you can watch a video for the title track below.

Manzanera and Finn first met in Sydney in 1975, when Split Enz supported Roxy Music on the English band’s first Australian tour. This led to Manzanera producing the Split Enz album Second Thoughts when they came to the UK the following year. Over the subsequent years, their paths would cross periodically, with Tim singing and writing songs for Phil’s Kscope and Southern Cross albums.

“It’s a joy and honour working with Tim, one of the finest singer, songwriters of his generation," says Manzanera. "I couldn’t believe how prolific he is, how he makes song writing seem so natural and instinctive, I’d send the music, and then within days, these beautifully sung songs would pop up… it was like Christmas every day! And we’re still writing.”

“The tracks that Phil was sending were instantly evocative and in a time of global pandemic represented a way of connecting emotionally with the countries first affected," adds Finn. "Spain, Italy, France and the UK were all places I had travelled in, lived in and played concerts in. But now they were suffering and closed off. I started singing in Spanish and themes came freely. Sometimes I would write lyrics in English, translate them to Spanish, making changes for scan or rhyme which took me in new and unexpected directions.

"Phil’s music is always highly atmospheric and suggestive. He has a way of playing that is just the right side of elegant. My wife and children had also been playing Roxy Music in the car so Phil was present and vivid for me when I started writing these songs with him. A delightful and meaningful exchange between two old friends on opposite sides of the world.”

The series of EPs will feature a mix of genres such including prog, rock, Latin Cumbia, African reggae, and orchestral music, all together in the same project, further highlighting the unique qualities of this global collaboration. Across the 20 songs, there are 20 musicians representing 12 countries, across four continents. These musicians span seven decades, from teenagers to people in their 70s.

The Caught By The Heart EP was produced by Phil Manzanera and Tim Finn and recorded by all the musicians in the UK, Germany and New Zealand and mastered at Abbey Road.

Phil Manzanera and Tim Finn: Caught By The Heart
1. Mambo, Salsa, Guaguanco
2. Caught By The Heart
3. Bajo Luz Distina
4. Vamos Depsacio

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.