On September 16, Talk Talk will release their fifth studio album, “Laughing Stock,” on the Verve label through Polydor. This label debut sees them steering away from pop music’s beaten path even more than their previous efforts on Parlophone.
Following four successful studio albums, EMI released the Talk Talk “best of” album, “Natural History” in 1990, which reached no. 13 in European Top 100 Albums. “History Revisited – The Remixes” was next causing for contractual confusion between the band’s management and EMI. Now Talk Talk are back with a new record deal on Polydor.
Says their manager Keith Aspden, “The relationship with a record company is as good as your contract. I’m sure Polydor knows what they have.”
The new six-track album, “Laughing Stock”, recorded at Wessex Studios/London, threads the fine line between experimental pop and new age, evoking images from Robert Wyatt, indeed even early Soft Machine, to Roxy Music and David Sylvian. Once again, the compositions are written by main man Mark Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Greene, and the talents of harmonica player Mark Feltham are featured among the many guest musicians.
“I don’t even dare to try to describe the music”, says Aspden. “It draws influences from a wide variety; it’s much bigger than a pop record. You really need to take the time to appreciate its full impact.”
Aspden believes the album cannot be pigeon-holed. “It’s not a record that fits radio formats. The album is an entity and you cannot pull anything off it.”
With sparse arrangements, the dynamics range from the softly whispered to the trashy. The track “Ascension Day” is a prime example of this, with the vocals sometimes being mere brush strokes in the musical tapestry, added almost like afterthoughts, as on the track “Runeii”. The nervous use of the drum cymbals gives an extra, almost jazzy rhythmic dimension to the music.
“Laughing Stock” is the first contemporary pop release on the Verve label. The only other non-jazz artist on Verve are the Righteous Brothers.
Polydor international marketing manager Alastair Farquhar is enthusiastic. “Suffice it to say, the album is an extraordinary piece of work. There are no EHR friendly tracks, but then there weren’t any on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” or Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells.”
“Our campaign is aimed at retail and the press. We have to be realistic; it’s just the nature of the album. The reactions in the key UK pop magazines, such as Melody Maker, NME and Q reflect our direction. The critics find it superb, brilliant. We target the age group between 25-40, who tend to read these quality magazines.”
Polydor produced a number of promotional items for the press. There is a stationary box, containing such things as pens, rulers, paperclips and a Talk Talk notebook. A picture CD is enclosed with a yellow pine box. Adds Farquhar, “It’s something that people will find useful. Usually every big release goes with oceans of promo material, but never any of practical value.”
As usual, James Marsh designed the album sleeve – and this one shows a number of birds sitting in a tree, against a dark blue background. Vintage Talk Talk, it should be instantly recognisable to their fans. A heavy in-store push will be based on the Marsh designs. Although the company will not release regular singles eligible for chart inclusion, a limited edition three-CD single box, containing album tracks and previously unreleased material, will be issued. The first single in the box, “After The Flood”, will be released on October 7, to be followed by “New Grass” on October 28 and “Ascension Day” on November 25. The box will be commercially available in France, Canada and the UK only. All the other territories around the world have taken it for promotional/marketing usage only. Explains Farquhar, “it will continue to generate interest in the whole project.”
On July 11, the album was launched for a number of territories in the Planetarium in Paris, a setting that suited it impeccably. There are no plans for touring because “The stage is far too poor a medium to reproduce this music,” as Aspden puts it.
