Few bands have had as unexpected a career arc as Talk Talk had. They were founded in 1981 and were quickly lumped in with bands associated with the New Romantic movement. Their synth-heavy debut album did bear some sonic resemblance to the work of bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, but it wouldn’t take long for the London-based group to branch out stylistically. By the time Talk Talk released their fifth and final album, Laughing Stock, in 1991, they were paving the way for a genre that came to be known as post-rock, which eschewed traditional pop song structures and instrumentation.
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Looking at Talk Talk through the lens of a “how it started, how it’s going” meme doesn’t capture how they got to where they arrived. It’s a fascinating journey that is best spent with the entirety of each of their albums. But at least for starters, a short playlist of these five songs—one from each album—will suffice nicely.
1. “Talk Talk”
For those who were around for the early years of MTV, “Talk Talk” was undoubtedly their introduction to the band of the same name. The video for the single was aired frequently on the music video network, and it didn’t hurt that it was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who also directed The Buggles’ video for “Video Killed the Radio Star”—the first video ever played on MTV.
Right from their first hit single, it was clear that Mark Hollis could drive a song with his impassioned vocals. The bridge showcases fierce electronic drum work by Lee Harris and a beautiful piano melody played by Simon Brenner. Talk Talk’s debut, The Party’s Over, which included “Talk Talk,” would be the only of their albums to feature Brenner.
2. “It’s My Life”
Upon Brenner’s departure, Talk Talk was officially a trio consisting of Hollis, Harris, and bassist Paul Webb, but keyboards were still prominent on their sophomore album, It’s My Life. Tim Friese-Greene, who would play a critical role in all of Talk Talk’s remaining albums, played piano and synths on It’s My Life. Friese-Greene never officially joined the band, but he performed on and produced every album going forward from this 1984 release. The title track was the lead single and became Talk Talk’s only Top 40 hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“It’s My Life,” co-written by Friese-Greene and Hollis, still relies heavily on synth textures, but Webb’s fretless bass melody is central to the song, particularly in the chorus. While a Tim Pope-directed video helped to bring “It’s My LIfe” to the attention of music fans in the ‘80s, the song gained an even larger audience when No Doubt covered it for their greatest hits compilation, The Singles 1992-2003, and took the song to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2004.
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3. “Life’s What You Make It”
If It’s My Life was a baby step away from the synth-driven sound of The Party’s Over, then Talk Talk’s third album, The Colour of Spring, was a running jump. On “Life’s What You Make It,” Friese-Greene’s organ and mellotron take a backseat in the mix to Hollis’ vocal and piano melodies and Harris’ funky rhythm, giving the song a more organic feel than earlier singles had. And Peter Gabriel’s guitarist, David Rhodes, plays a guitar riff in the intro and choruses that gives “Life’s What You Make It” a little bit of an edge.
While Friese-Greene’s keyboard contributions aren’t front and center, his production is the real star of the song. Having the vocals, piano, and drums serve as the focal points (with the piano part substituting for a bass line) was a brilliant choice, especially since the phrasing of each of the three parts serves to complement each other.
4. “The Rainbow”
The most drastic change in Talk Talk’s sound and approach came with their next release, Spirit of Eden. The album was recorded over 10 months in a studio that was unlit except for candles, an oil projector, and strobe lights. Dozens of studio musicians were brought in to improvise parts over the basic tracks. The songs were painstakingly crafted from bits and pieces of selected improvisations, and the final product is stunning.
Spirit of Eden’s leadoff track, “The Rainbow,” exemplifies the difference this new approach made. Until the guitar makes its entrance at the 2:17 mark, the song is mostly quiet strings and ambient noises, and nearly three and a half minutes pass before Hollis begins his vocal part. “The Rainbow” ebbs and flows over its remaining five and a half minutes, and its generous use of space only amplifies the power of its highest-energy moment: a half-minute-long Mark Feltham harmonica solo.
5. “After the Flood”
The recording process used for Laughing Stock was similar to that of Spirit of Eden, and the songs shifted even further from typical pop structures. Harris’ hypnotic beat makes “After the Flood” the album’s standout track, and the blissful vibe is interrupted only by the 73 seconds of feedback in the middle of the song that competes with the groove for our attention.
“After the Flood”—and the rest of Laughing Stock—is light years away from the synth-pop of The Party’s Over, making it hard to believe it took Talk Talk only nine years to traverse the distance between the two bookend albums.
For those who want to go beyond these five tracks, there is a self-titled solo album from Hollis that was initially supposed to be Talk Talk’s sixth album. It’s notable for its even more extreme use of silence than the final two Talk Talk albums, and it’s the final album Hollis made before he died in 2019. Hollis retired from making music in 1998 after completing it.
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