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Held by Trees — Solace
(Tweed Jacket Music, 2022, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2022-05-28

Solace Cover art

When Talk Talk released Spirit of Eden in 1988, a lot of people took notice, and it has been mentioned as an influence by many musicians since then. The spacious sound and the improvisational nature of the music were a revelation to many, and it’s even cited as one of the foundational recordings of post-rock. Reviews at the time were decidedly mixed, but its stature has endured among musicians. Now, more than 30 years on from that landmark, we have Held by Trees, a collective of musicians involved in the album and its two successors, Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock (1991) and Talk Talk leader Mark Hollis’s 1998 solo album, who have reconvened to create more music in the same vein. Hollis died in 2019, having mostly retired from the music business after his solo album. Drummer Martin Ditcham is at the helm, though the collaborative nature of the music resists the idea of leadership in a conventional sense. Well over a dozen different musicians participated on the eight tracks of Solace, with no single player appearing on every track. As might be expected, the overall sound is serene and meditative, somewhat minimalistic, and never even the slightest bit flashy. It’s all about textures, whether they come via strings, woodwinds, sparse pianos, or echoing guitars. Depending on your mood, the result could be considered magnificently beautiful or deadly dull. I don’t know that Solace adds anything new to the conversation, but those who love later Talk Talk probably aren’t looking for something new — they want variations on the theme, and Held by Trees certainly delivers.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Held by Trees

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