(Mark Hollis, Lee Harris, Paul Webb, Simon Brenner, Tim Friese-Greene)
[1981-1991], London, Greater London, United Kingdom

#talktalk #markhollis

Always uncomfortable with the requirements and pressure of the pop industry, Talk Talk moved away from synthpop toward more experimental music in the mid-1980s.

A few more singles, including "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World", achieved success in Europe and in the UK, but their commercial appeal receded quickly as their critical reputation increased. Talk Talk broke up in 1991.

Singer Mark Hollis released one solo album before retiring from the music industry. Founding bass player and drummer Paul Webb and Lee Harris played in a couple of bands together; de facto fourth member Tim Friese-Greene continued in the business as a musician and producer.

Their final two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, were highly acclaimed and remain influential to experimental alternative rock genres, especially post-rock. 25 years after the release of what The Guardian called their masterpiece (1988's Spirit of Eden), Talk Talk was still praised as a classic example of a band refusing to compromise its art to commercial pressure, and Hollis and his bandmates are one of the acts that came out of the synthpop movement of the 1980s whose music remains influential today.

Mark Hollis died on 25 February 2019.