Label: EMI Records
Year of release: 1982
Production: Colin Thurston
Album length: 36.47 min
Genre: New Wave / Synth Pop
“The Party’s Over” was the debut from the cult British outfit Talk Talk, a band whose character and body of work still can’t be neatly boxed into a genre. They outgrew the borders of new wave, ‘played’ with art rock, and by the end of their career had thrown open the doors to post rock. In the early days, their sound was best described as something in between synth pop and new wave, though even back then, early in a relatively short career, you could already hear some of the more complex, ‘art’ elements. “The Party’s Over”, with Colin Thurston, former producer of David Bowie and Duran Duran, leaving his stamp on it, had no guitars at all. Instead it was all the more drenched in layered synth textures courtesy of Simon Brenner, who left the band right after this album came out. The relatively intricate rhythm section of bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris carried quite a few jazzy influences, even if that only became properly audible on later Talk Talk records. The band’s central ‘star’ could be pinned down from day one: the one-of-a-kind singer and all-round musician Mark Hollis, whose distinctive voice made sure they stood apart from similar peers from the moment the first singles dropped.
Hollis also brought the first hit single over from his previous band Reaction: “Talk Talk”, the opening track on “The Party’s Over”, which gave Talk Talk some fairly unexpected commercial success. That came after “Mirror Man”, released before the album officially came out, tanked commercially, which luckily didn’t kill the band’s drive to keep making interesting and, for the time, challenging music. It’s funny that the song the band took its name from is also one of the most commercial and best-loved Talk Talk tracks ever, with massive synth textures paving the way for a melodic chorus that lodges itself in your ears in an instant.
The atmosphere of most songs on “The Party’s Over”, an album without a single guitar on it, is soaked in a mix of indescribable melancholy and icy-cold chill, the only logical outcome of a dystopian society that Mr. Hollis is trying to escape by any means as he sings. The lyrics were among the smartest you’d find if you compare Talk Talk with the new wave bands of the day. Behind a seeming layer of reports from teenage parties, there’s mostly a bitter social critique hiding. Sarcasm radiates throughout “It’s So Serious” too, where intricate synth passages build a gripping atmosphere in the middle of which Hollis’s melodramatic singing style feels completely at home. “Today”, the album’s next single, also became a hit, which is hardly surprising. The moment that pompous, wake-up-call chorus kicks in, sounding, thanks to Hollis, as if it’s rising from the saddest depths of the human soul, it’s clear why this track did so well. Little synth ornaments add extra movement and color to the thoroughly dramatic mood.
The title track opens with an enigmatic intro, while its mocking lyrics deliver an uncompromising satire of a hedonistic society, or more precisely, the party-hungry and apathetic youth of the late 20th century, which means it’s just as relevant today. The unforgettable ambient magic comes once again from the great combination of Hollis’s unique vocals and layered synth arrangements, while the rhythm section in the middle surprises with an unexpected time change into an almost epic passage. Even early in their career, Talk Talk were incredible masters of creating a stunning, distinctive atmosphere that swept the listener away with ease.
“Hate” is, true to its title, the most uncompromising and ‘angry’ track on the whole album, and alongside classic new wave synth arrangements it features a slightly punky chorus. On “Have You Heard The News?”, shot through with a new romantic pulse and a return of that incredible melancholy, it’s not hard to see why the media of the day loved comparing Talk Talk early on to Duran Duran and even (late) Roxy Music. The already mentioned “Mirror Man” could also be compared to some of Japan’s work, which means there’s a noticeable art rock component in the individual arrangements and rhythmic nuances. Apparently the track was a bit too rhythmically complex for the masses of the time to make it a hit, while the chorus was probably not ‘catchy’ enough for most people to get a favorable commercial response.
“Another World”, another melodramatic piece on which Hollis pulls off an unforgettable vocal performance, especially when it comes to shifting emotional moods, features an unusually fast tempo and a socially engaged, multi-voiced chorus. “Candy” is a popular female ‘stage’ name that popular fiction often uses for a loose woman or a stripper, but in Talk Talk’s case Candy is the lyrical subject of a melancholic love ballad, adorned with mighty symphonic arrangements, where Hollis’s vocals, in terms of the sheer amount of emotion poured in, reach whole new dimensions.
On their splendid debut, Talk Talk were already pulling back the veil on the seemingly hidden, ‘darker’ side of new wave. No surprise, then, that the parties in the lyrics of individual songs almost always ended with a sad epilogue, which was nothing more than a biting comment on an emotionally numb and spiritually hollowed-out modern society. From “The Party’s Over” onward, Hollis’s crew of brave explorers of new musical directions, beyond the expected synth pop and new wave circles, moved forward from album to album, which means every new record showed something completely new while drifting further and further away from chasing radio hits.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Track list:
1. Talk Talk
2. It’s So Serious
3. Today
4. The Party’s Over
5. Hate
6. Have You Heard the News?
7. Mirror Man
8. Another World
9. Candy
Line-up:
Mark Hollis – vocals
Lee Harris – drums
Paul Webb – bass guitar
Simon Brenner – keyboards
