Album: Spirit Of Eden
Artist: Talk Talk
Artist: Talk Talk
Born: Tottenham, London
Released: June 1988
Genre: Post-rock
Influenced: Radiohead, Low, Sigur Rós, Bon Iver, Elbow, Antlers
Mark Hollis, like Kate Bush and David Sylvian, was one of several visionary English musicians that charted a very unique course in the 80s. As with Sylvian's group Japan, Talk Talk felt tainted by the synthpop label and built on the goodwill of successful singles (like It's My Life and Life's What You Make It) to convince their label to give them more time in the studio for their next record. In 1986, three core members of Talk Talk -- Hollis, drummer Lee Harris and bass guitarist Paul Webb (later Rustin Man) -- became fathers, with Hollis moving to a farm in Suffolk. When the band re-emerged, the synthetic instruments and drugs were ditched, and talented musicians like Danny Thompson (double bass) and Nigel Kennedy (fiddle) were brought into the fold, along with the Chelmsford Cathedral choir. Over a year-long period during 1987 and 1988, Talk Talk set about recording their revolutionary new blend of avant-garde classical music, folk, jazz (Miles Davis is a clear influence), ambient and krautrock (Hollis was a huge Can fan). Like Slint, Talk Talk are credited as frontrunners of the post-rock genre, which is essentially music that de-prioritises vocals and uses rock instruments to create musical textures rather than riffs and melodies; one characteristic that both bands shared was perfectionism, the difference being that Slint spent most of their time perfecting their songs before they got in the studio. Vocally, much like John Martyn and Robert Wyatt, Hollis had an anti-rock & roll voice and trying to decipher his lyrics, especially when he often stretches words beyond meaning, is a near impossible task.
Mark Hollis, like Kate Bush and David Sylvian, was one of several visionary English musicians that charted a very unique course in the 80s. As with Sylvian's group Japan, Talk Talk felt tainted by the synthpop label and built on the goodwill of successful singles (like It's My Life and Life's What You Make It) to convince their label to give them more time in the studio for their next record. In 1986, three core members of Talk Talk -- Hollis, drummer Lee Harris and bass guitarist Paul Webb (later Rustin Man) -- became fathers, with Hollis moving to a farm in Suffolk. When the band re-emerged, the synthetic instruments and drugs were ditched, and talented musicians like Danny Thompson (double bass) and Nigel Kennedy (fiddle) were brought into the fold, along with the Chelmsford Cathedral choir. Over a year-long period during 1987 and 1988, Talk Talk set about recording their revolutionary new blend of avant-garde classical music, folk, jazz (Miles Davis is a clear influence), ambient and krautrock (Hollis was a huge Can fan). Like Slint, Talk Talk are credited as frontrunners of the post-rock genre, which is essentially music that de-prioritises vocals and uses rock instruments to create musical textures rather than riffs and melodies; one characteristic that both bands shared was perfectionism, the difference being that Slint spent most of their time perfecting their songs before they got in the studio. Vocally, much like John Martyn and Robert Wyatt, Hollis had an anti-rock & roll voice and trying to decipher his lyrics, especially when he often stretches words beyond meaning, is a near impossible task.
The Rainbow is a good example of how jazz had become an important component of the band's new experimental, improvised approach, opening with what I first thought was the sound of a saxophone, but later discovered is a harmonica that has been distorted to create an anguished howl. Then comes Hollis' prophetic lyrics, "the world's turned upside down", as he sings over Henry Lowther's muted trumpet and extended piano notes. This is immersive music that alternates between hushed and loud, expansive and minimalist, and it's this element of post-rock which has been much imitated by Mogwai and others. Tim Friese-Greene (producer and co-songwriter) was an important figure in the album's evolution, as was the engineer Phill Brown; in an enlightening Quietus article, both support the idea that Spirit of Eden (and follow-up Laughing Stock, recorded with Polydor and not EMI) wasn't conceived by Hollis as an attempt to get one over on the recording industry, but was more borne out of a misunderstanding. In any case, the results are sublime and otherworldly, unlike anything I've heard before. The record's silence can be overbearing, creating more tension than any guitar thrashing or heavy riffing could muster, and acts as a powerful antidote to many of heavy rock's excesses of the late 80s. Eden's impassioned vocals and stately feel reminds me of Velvet Underground's Heroin in parts, but musical reference points are hard to come by. After the first three songs, which act as a mini-suite, I Believe In You is the most straightforward composition, a ballad that swirls in and out of focus but is clearly about something (the dangers of heroin use). That said, it still has an odd dub ending, inspired by the melodica sound of Augustus Pablo. Wealth is the album's highlight for me, with Hollis at his most mystical ("take my freedom for giving me a sacred love") and music that sounds almost like a church piece, its extended harmonium notes played more for their tonality rather than any sense of song progression. Sigur Rós must have been listening. I've seen Spirit of Eden described as "Astral Weeks for the 80s", and that's the most concise and accurate description I've come across.
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