Popular music lovers and the music industry have mourned the loss of great musicians over the last few years. While the unexpected passing of Bowie and Prince shocked us all, it was the loss of Mark Hollis (1955-2019) that hit me the most. I don’t know why. Or perhaps I do? I was a secret Talk Talk fan during high school (when I should have been into Bros). I can clearly remember the moment I was browsing in the music section at Tesco and became intrigued by the surreal album covers of Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, and Laughing Stock that were proudly on display. That ‘display’ of album covers lasted for a good few years in Tesco. Someone working at Tesco was clearly a Talk Talk fan (or had some kind of an Essex connection with the band). Anyway, I was too young to buy CDs (do you remember how much a CD was back in the day?!), so I gladly settled for cassette tapes and later, the VHS compilation of their songs.

The wailing synth sounds and bass grooves supporting Hollis’ vocals have always captivated me. However, it’s also, of course, the discontented vocals and melancholic lyrics that always struck me the most. It always brought a stark reminder of my teenage life at the time. Later on, while growing up as a young adult, I was not really concerned on why Talk Talk had separated (because most bands eventually break up right?). Despite Hollis leaving the industry, and being musically silent for a long time, I guess deep down, many of his followers (including myself) had secretly hoped that he would eventually return to music. Sadly now, ‘it is a dream away’. Thank you, Mark Hollis, for mirroring our pain in your music (as well as making me spend my teenage years trying to work out the meaning of Belle Malissima…).

© Shara Rambarran