"Imagine what is possible if you could separate time," Liam Finn and Eliza Jane Barnes sing at the outset of "Long Way to Go." They provide a glimmer of what they have in mind during their live performances, wherein Finn samples himself playing one instrument before hopping over to the next, folding moments over on themselves until he's created a temporal loop of multiple Finns existing in one fragmented moment.
That's certainly one way to create a groove, and "Long Way to Go" recalls the wing of new wave that's less interested in synthesized smoothness (whether warm or cold) than in off-kilter shards of sound glued together to resemble pop music. The bass and guitar are locked in together in a clipped, guttural snap that's equal parts Falco and The Gap Band, while Finn's drums offer an overeager gallop at the end of every phrase.
The song seems to uncoil when Finn and Barnes hit the bridge, with ideas evaporating off the surface faster than they can be spotted, let alone captured. But the riff comes back just as hard as before, if not harder, thanks in part to a staccato whisper that hits with percussive power. It's just one more aspect of a song designed to burrow under the skin and itch a little. Not enough to be an annoyance, of course; just enough to provide a tingle that fires up the senses a hair, if only for three minutes.
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