Talk Talk were always a pretty hard act to define as they were never part of a distinct movement despite singles like “Life’s What You Make It” and “It’s My Life” described as New Wave.

Having made very closed, textural music, it is suggested that the best way to listen to their music is late at night and in a calm mood, without distractions, giving them your full attention. Their songs are long, meditative, immersive experiences that have no doubt, created the perfect atmospheric template for the 90’s formation of post-rock and trip-hop.

Early rock journalists were unkind in their reviews and it took some time to recognize lead singer Mark Hollis as one of the great songwriters of his generation. Resistant to interviews as time went on, he didn’t see why he should have had to explain their music to anyone.

Motivated by the need to make great and increasingly personal music with influences as wide as  Steve Winwood, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Pharoah  Sanders, John Coltrane, and Erik Satie but sounding like none of them, their music often sounds a like desperate cries for help.

Talk Talk disbanded in 1991 after the release of the album “Laughing Stock” and Hollis recorded his only self titled album in 1998. The band never played live again and Hollis’ whereabouts remained unknown for years until his death in February 2019.

Aside from a horrible cover of “It’s My Life” by No Doubt, you can hear the influence of Talk Talk in the work by a number of groups including Tears For Fears, Death Cab For Cutie, and especially Radiohead.