Musicians from Talk Talk will reunite for a one-off show in London to mark the 40th anniversary of their classic album ‘The Colour Of Spring’.
The band’s third studio album was released in February 1986 and it represented a major transition for the band. It saw them leave behind the synthpop sound that had made them successful, embracing instead a more experimental, jazz and art pop-influenced style that laid the groundwork for future albums ‘Spirit Of Eden’ and ‘Laughing Stock’.
On September 5, musicians including Simon Brenner, the group’s founding keyboardist, as well as Phil Ramocon and Ian Curnow, will come together to play a one-off gig at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, where they will play ‘The Colour Of Spring’ in full.
They will be joined on stage by Sophie Barker (Zero 7), Gale Paridjanian (Turin Brakes), Tim Eisenburg (Sweet Billy Pilgrim), Chris Hampson and Jacob Brown. There will also be guest collaborations on the night, including from Ed Harcourt and Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield, who will both also play support sets, and Ride’s Mark Gardener.
Tickets for the ‘Spirit Of Talk Talk’ show are on sale now and you can find yours here.
Talk Talk were led by Mark Hollis, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 64. The NME obituary noted: “Citing influences such as Debussy, Bartok, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, however, Hollis clearly had ambitions beyond the frivolous pop music of the early ‘80s. He shifted towards a more layered and organic style, improvising with an expanded band to create Talk Talk’s celebrated, 2 million-selling third album ‘The Colour Of Spring’, a Top Ten album in 1986 on the back of the prowling pianos and soaring guitar riffs of international hit ‘Life’s What You Make It’.”
In February, Talk Talk released a new half-speed reissue of ‘Spirit Of Eden’, overseen by Mark Hollis’ son Charlie, as well as the band’s drummer Lee Harris and producer Matt Colton.
A documentary film Talk Talk: In A Silent Way, which focused on the making of ‘Spirit Of Eden’, was released in 2021.
In an interview at the time, archived by Rock’s Back Pages, Hollis said about the album: “It’s certainly a reaction to the music that’s around at the moment ‘cos most of that is shit. It’s only radical in the modern context. It’s not radical compared to what was happening 20 years ago.
He added: “If we’d have delivered this album to the record company 20 years ago they wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.”
