Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Talk Talk
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1984
Runtime: 43:16
Rating: 4.5/5
British new wave standouts Talk Talk put out their second album, »It’s My Life«, after original keyboardist Simon Brenner had left the band. The record deepened their innate feel for artistry and threw the doors even wider open to outstanding sonic sophistication. They never went looking for an official replacement. Instead, charismatic singer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Hollis, the soul and most recognizable face of Talk Talk, met the gifted composer, keyboardist and producer Tim Friese-Greene, who became Hollis’s key songwriting collaborator, regular producer and a superb keyboard stand-in for Brenner. Friese-Greene never became an official member of the band, but from »It’s My Life« onward he was an indispensable guest keyboardist, producer and Hollis’s songwriting partner. As said, on »It’s My Life«, which brought them huge success in western and central Europe, especially thanks to hit singles led by »Such a Shame« and the title track, Talk Talk climbed up another level when it came to weaving sophisticated shapes of synthpop with plenty of art rock elements.
Much like Talk Talk’s debut, »The Party’s Over« (1982), »It’s My Life« was laced with mighty synth arrangements, occasionally keeping company with piano. This time around they also used some guitars, courtesy of guest guitarist Robbie McIntosh, and even woodwinds. But the central sonic ingredient that made Talk Talk the eternal oddballs of the new wave movement and one of the biggest experimental hopes of the eighties wasn’t just the art of crafting sophisticated, complex keyboard landscapes. It was Hollis’s distinctive voice, which had hardly any equal on the scene back then. The talented guy had an extraordinary vocal charisma, where indescribable melancholy and nostalgia blended together, as if his voice came from some near future where all hopes and expectations had long since died at the dawn of a ‘brave new world’, leaving his voice behind as a mute witness to the beginning of the end of human civilization. Of course, the electronic-futuristic synth textures certainly added their share, as did the sharply sarcastic, self-ironic and socially mocking lyrics hiding behind ill-fated love stories.
Right at the album’s opening, the hit »Dum Dum Girl« offers a lovely example of how to pull off an arrangement-heavy synthpop gem with a strong art rock streak. Thick bass lines are wrapped in the icy ambience of synth textures, while Hollis’s vocal sounds like a cold breeze in the middle of a spring morning. A short synth solo gives a nice glimpse of the fact that, with Friese-Greene’s arrival, Talk Talk had gained a musician, composer and producer of exceptional talent. Ian Curnow, another guest musician, also played some of the keyboards on the album. In the intro of the aforementioned big European hit and melancholic songwriting masterpiece, »Such a Shame«, Talk Talk heavily play around with assorted percussion and synth effects, making for a pretty unconventional opening to this otherwise strongly melodic-melancholic composition. Subtle keyboard arrangements pave the way for a mighty, multi-voiced chorus that hypnotizes the listener in an instant with its ambient magic, while the futuristically tinted main riff makes the whole thing sound as if the band were playing from some other galaxy. Hollis reportedly got his inspiration for the lyrics from reading the novel ‘The Gambler’, one of his favorite books.
The next track, »Renée«, a great example of a complex and sophisticated love ballad, is solid proof that the influence of ambient music, which you can hear mostly in the intro section dominated by mighty bass lines, was increasingly taking over Talk Talk’s sonic vocabulary. Hollis’s vocal sounds utterly inconsolable, while the woodwind section chips in too, complementing the melancholic keyboard arrangements. »It’s My Life« was a big dance hit in the US, while in Europe, surprisingly, it didn’t do as well as »Such a Shame«, though it’s still among Talk Talk’s most beloved and best-known songs today. It was used in a TV commercial for the French car Peugeot 205 and even in the video games Saints Row: The Third and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. This synthpop masterpiece is yet another picture-perfect showcase of compositional and instrumental sophistication, where seemingly smaller sonic ornaments do an enormous amount of work building a mighty mood that peaks in an epic-melancholic chorus. The tempo changes are placed in an extremely intelligent way, while bassist Paul Webb, laying down thick bass lines that he often plays as if he had a guitar in his hands, keeps things nicely dynamic between the complex keyboard arrangements.
From here on, no track on the album has much commercial potential to speak of, but they’re distinguished by other good qualities. »Tomorrow Started« is another thrillingly sophisticated love ballad with numerous experimental moments, where the rhythmic nuances are strongly influenced by jazz fusion, while the nostalgic-sounding synth layers are an ideal match for Hollis’s ‘frozen’ vocal. Short improvised trumpet bits also spice the whole thing up in a fun way. On »The Last Time«, the next specimen of ‘intelligent’ synthpop, Hollis’s singing at moments sounds almost approachable, which on this somewhat sunnier, ambient composition is only the illusory calm before the melancholy explodes. Dominant bass lines and massive synth layers are this time complemented a few times by guest guitar passages as well.
During »Call In The Night Boy« an ominous atmosphere takes over, with grooving bass lines and dark synth curtains, while Hollis’s vocal sounds almost vengeful. Short improvised bits can be heard pretty much the whole way through, but they don’t disturb the melodically oriented structure of the composition one bit. »Does Caroline Know?« is a nice example of a successful sonic collage of ambient music, jazz fusion and synthpop, meaning the band experiments heavily with genre-wise wildly varied rhythmic elements and shifting effects, while Hollis’s singing once again conjures up an unforgettable mood. »It’s You«, yet another ice-cold dispatch from the ‘brave new world’, is marked by dominant synth textures that drift into pretty unpredictable improvisations a few times.
With »It’s My Life« Talk Talk finally stepped into the league of the great masters of the experimental take on synthpop, announcing loud and clear that every album of theirs would uncompromisingly bust out of genre boundaries. Their commercial success, though short-lived, since Hollis had ambitious plans to steer Talk Talk as far as possible from synthpop and traditional new wave influences with an even more experimental sonic direction, which most labels of the time, EMI first among them, of course immediately branded commercial suicide, blossomed precisely with the release of »It’s My Life«.
Line-up
Mark Hollis – vocals
Paul Webb – bass guitar
Lee Harris – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Tim Friese-Greene – keyboards
Henry Lowther – trumpet
Ian Curnow – keyboards
Robbie McIntosh – guitar
Morris Pert – percussion
Phil Ramocon – piano
Production
Tim Friese-Greene
Track List
1. Dum Dum Girl (3:52)
2. Such a Shame (5:43)
3. Renée (6:23)
4. It’s My Life (3:54)
5. Tomorrow Started (5:59)
6. The Last Time (4:24)
7. Call in the Night Boy (3:48)
8. Does Caroline Know? (4:41)
9. It’s You (4:42)
