Track Listing

1. Colour Of Spring
2. Watershed
3. Inside Looking Out
4. Gift
5. Life 1895 1915
6. Westward Bound
7. Daily Planet
8. New Jerusalem

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4927 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
Talk Talk frontman Mark Hollis took his sweet time in releasing his 1998 solo debut. Then again, this is the man who said, "Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note--and don't play one note unless you've got a reason to play it". That spirit of minimalism certainly informs MARK HOLLIS,a masterpiece of reflection and restraint.
MARK HOLLIS revisits the holy, haunted realm of LAUGHING STOCK, Talk Talk's 1991 swan song. Hollis's tremulous tenor sounds as fragile and self-contained as ever, his Samuel Beckett-like lyric fragments illuminating the deliberate spaces left in the sensitive arrangements. Each of these eight songs is a revelation. Henry Lowther's brassy, braying trumpet suddenly ripplesthe reflective "Watershed". Woodwinds, harmonica, piano, guitar, and harmonium catch Hollis' words within a tilting kaleidoscope of instrumental colour on "A Life (1895-1915)" and"A New Jerusalem", much in the manner of Morton Feldman. "The Gift" and "The Daily Planet" are moments of pure pop-jazzepiphany, swaying in elegant, unhurried rhythms. Other highlights include the folky, dustbowl yearning of "Westward Bound", and the pensive grace of "Inside Looking Out" and "The Colour of Spring".

Customer Reviews

Achingly Beautiful
This really is an exceptional album. Like all the best things in life it is an aquired taste. The first time I listened it made almost no impression on me at all - and I was brought to it by my enjoyment of the more reflective tracks of "Spirit Of Eden"!
The brilliance comes from the sheer sensitivity and economy of the recording - there is not a single superfluous moment. It is like the sparsest of pencil drawings.
It is a mark of genius that he has been able to reduce each track to little more than handful of musical and vocal gestures.
Just to think that I may have missed this one!

What can one say!!
A lot has been said already about this superb release in 1998, I feel I have to comment also as I have been a devout Talk Talk fan for 24 years!

This album is beautifully crafted and patiently played by some excellent musicians. We get bassoon, trumpet, flute, harmonica and clarinet along with double bass and spine chilling piano all playing with the softest of approaches.

Minimilistic and sparse are terms that have both been used already, but there is no other way to describe what feels like minutes of elongated one notes, creaking piano stools, echo, silence and of coarse Mark's haunting vocal style which has set him apart from the norm.

'The Colour Of Spring' written with Phil Ramacon who worked with messers Harris and Webb on 'Herd Of Instinct' by O'Rang opens the set which has to be my favourite, piano and voice that plays havoc with my goosebumps everytime I hear it! It follows on from 'Chameleon Day' (1986) the first taster of his eventual sound and style.

Long time collaborator Tim Friesse-Greene has gone but Mark has found another co-writer in the form of Warne Livesey who are responsible for 'Watershed' 'The Gift' 'A Life (1895-1915)' 'The Daily Planet' and 'A New Jerusalem'.

'Westward Bound' is co-written with Domonic Miller and 'Inside Looking Out' is the only self penned song which is one of the strongest peices here. The entire album is a highlight, no individual track lets it down, all the songs are statements, there is no need for verse after verse to get ones point across.

'A Life (1895-1915)' is a perfect example, over 8 minutes long and using 14 words, it describes the euphoria surrounding the charge of willing young men joining up to fight for King and Country in WW1 only to find pain, suffering and eventual death.

'A New Jerusalem' closes the album with almost 2 minutes of silence, as if to invite the listener to reflect on the recorded content before returning to everyday life.

This is an album of breathtaking ability and I for one hope we can coax him out of retirement for a follow up soon.

it just keeps getting more beautiful
I cannot think of any record, or piece of music in my collection which is similar or even bears comparison to this CD, Mark Hollis is unique.
Less is more, textural and achingly sparse, Mark Hollis's only solo record is a spacious ethereal beauty. The melodies, not evident on a first listening, grow and take form gradually with every play and will eventually overwhelm you. This is not, i repeat, not a "clever" record, it is simple, it makes me feel good. Do not however expect a revelation on it's first playing... you need to give this one the time and space it desreves.