Mark Hollis

I bought this album because I have been so overwhelmed by Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock that I needed more. I precise that I originally was very fan of the traditional Talk Talk from the very beginning, what means that we can love like crazy "Such A Shame" and still be ready to follow Mark Hollis in this quest.I am not going to describe this CD because it is impossible to describe, also impossible to put it in a category, or more exactly, it is in the category Mark Hollis. It is not some "easy listening" music, and certainly not something to dance on. I usually love dancing, but still, I bought it, and couldn't stop listening to it. It must be listened to completely, if you do something else in the same time, you won't get it.The instruments are very pure, no keyboards or samplers of all kinds, no fake noises, the noises your hear are real. By listening to it, you have the feeling to be in the same room as the musicians, and more exactly, just beside Mark Hollis, as if he was singing just for you. The piano is... wow no words to explain. Same thing for the guitars.I love all the songs, but I have a thing for The Colour of Spring, Watershed, The Gift, A Life, The New Jerusalem... All of them actually. There is nothing to throw away.I just have a theory about Mark Hollis' Music: no matter what he does, what arrangements he decides to use for his tracks, what musicians he hires, how he produces it, Mark Hollis always composes melodies, musics which are potential hits. According to me, there are at least four hits in this album. He just released the shadow of them, the ghost of the whole spirit, to hide himself, and put instead all his soul to fill the blank. Someone who does not listen to these tracks deeply won't guess anything. Mark Hollis is working very hard not to make a success again. But the genius is there, the melodies are there, a whole orchestra is there, his voice is still marvellously there, it is just up to him to decide what direction he wants to take.In spite of the genius, and the fact that I totally respect Mark Hollis' choice to go to a different direction, I however couldn't stop wondering what happened to him to make such a choice. That was certainly not something obvious and probably not very easy. Only something specific could have provoked such a decision.I got my answer in this masterpiece: read "The Gift" lyrics. All the answers I needed are there.We love you Mr Mark Hollis no matter what you do, nothing to be ashamed of.

Mark Hollis released his only solo album so far in 1998, seven years after the final Talk Talk album "Laughing Stock", and it's simply called "Mark Hollis." On the cover is a strange picture of a pasty that has haunting, sad eyes... it looks alive. The black and white photo is framed in white, and the whole booklet is simply lyrics and very simple production details.The first song is called "The Colour Of Spring", which is of course also the name of their third release from 1986. After 18 seconds of silence, the song starts with simple piano chords and the gorgeous, pleading voice of Mark Hollis. "Watershed" is a beautiful song with the fractured accordions, percussion, light guitar and basswork, and (as always) very dominated by the vocals. "Inside Looking Out" is mainly guitar and voice, and is haunting. This is the only song on the album solely-written by Hollis. "The Gift" is a full band, and moves along more quickly, with faster drums, strange sounds, and that odd harmonica howl from time to time. It fades out abruptly with goofy bassoon work, and the next song, "A Life (1895-1915)" fades in with that all-over-the-place quasi-classical blurting stuff, which continues, then with voice, and percussion comes in finally after about three minutes, when the wind instruments fall away and the guitar starts to swell, Hollis turns the vocal duties over to half-murmuring half-singing children's voices. Beautiful. This is the longest song on the release, 8:10, it is an extremely complex song that goes through several movements, and after the children's voices you get keyboard and double bass, then weird windworks, then some sort of a strange fade-out. "Westward Bound" is only guitar and Hollis' haunting voice. "The Daily Planet" is more like a full on song - it starts with bassoon doodling for a minute, but then picks up with a drum beat that moves the song along slowly, the voice comes in after 2.5 minutes with those haunting vocals, there's some great harmonica work. "A New Jerusalem" moves right along, with piano chords, guitar and vocals, but near the middle it peters out and becomes a whispering, still, moody statement, Hollis' last so far. The last 90 seconds of the song are silence.

This is, and has been for a few years now, my favourite album that I've come across. It may just be me, but I feel that Mark Hollis has through this work been able to tap into an emotional vault that is accessible to all willing listeners. He explores loneliness, hopefulness, solitude and spirituality, which are themes that I have picked up not so much through the lyrical content but rather by the methods through which the songs are composed, and the chordal arrangements between the instruments that have been adapted to song. The album is beautifully recorded and produced; a minimal amount of microphones have been used on the album to its benefit, as it reflects and adds to the thematic direction that Hollis employs in his songwriting. This is not an album for the weak-hearted. It is one that reaches deep into the realms of personal expression and pathos, and may resonate with potentially dark emotions and feelings that one may not which to explore. Mark Hollis is capable of doing this so deftly, it's somewhat of a worry. It's no surprise that he retired a few years after this album's release, not as though he'd be unable to top it, but anything less genuine would have been treacherous to his mission, and anything more may have driven him to insanity. This is the sort of album that you listen to on your own, so that you can allow it to converse with you, allow it negotiate with the workings of your psyche, which is where it has come from within the depths of Mark Hollis' mind. It's a beautiful album, complex yet simple, light yet dark, but definitely something that must be observed by an attentive ear. Be warned, it may not be for everyone, music aside.