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Talk Talk

Musical Group
Forlisteners into post-rock, art rock, and 80s synth-pop; fans of mark hollis and adventurous album craft.
10 Reviews 27 Definitions 160 Charts
Post rock Jazz Synth Pop

The Profile

Talk Talk were an English band formed in London in 1981 by Mark Hollis, Paul Webb and Lee Harris, with early keyboardist Simon Brenner and long‑time producer/co-writer Tim Friese‑Greene. They evolved from acclaimed 80s synth-pop to the influential, spacious soundscapes of Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991), before disbanding in the early 1990s.

Early hits included “Talk Talk,” “Today,” “It’s My Life,” and “Such a Shame” on EMI; transitional The Colour of Spring (1986) preceded the avant, jazz-tinged Spirit of Eden (EMI, 1988) and Laughing Stock (Verve, 1991). Hollis’s understated, intimate vocals and the group’s deconstruction of song form are frequently cited as foundational to post-rock.

DeBaser’s reviews chart Talk Talk’s shift from early 80s new wave/synth-pop to the spacious, jazz-tinged minimalism of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. Writers praise the band’s radical deconstruction of song form and Hollis’s intimate delivery, while noting the transitional role of The Colour of Spring and the iconic singles from It’s My Life. One dissenting take calls the debut a conventional new romantic outing.

Notable Quotes

❝ “Spirit Of Eden” is a rarefied poetry of the soul....
❝ The Talk Talk are one of the mysteries of the 80s.
❝ A masterpiece built through the dripping and polychrome layering of sound bands, an uncircumscribable radical jazz-rock work, with vocal melodies no longer tangible, yet so intimate and intertwined with the human soul.
❝ a lullaby of paradisiacal beauty.
❝ It’s My Life", perhaps the most representative track of Talk Talk, often covered (by No Doubt, for example) and of great impact.
❝ A true miracle.
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