Concerning Talk Talk and These New Puritans

I am not a fan of the rather soulless music of most of the electronic bands of the 1980's. However, one band always seemed to stand out for me as being something rather different. They were Talk Talk.

With each album they seemed to become more progressive and less commercial and this trend culminated in their final two albums, 'Spirit of Eden'


and 'Laughing Stock'


This latter album in particular was a totally non-commercial venture that incorporated elements of folk, prog-rock, pastoral jazz and contemporary classical music within six improvised pieces. Both albums were utterly compelling and in my view, totally sublime.

So, on a rail journey to London last week, I was intrigued to read a review of the forthcoming third album from These New Puritans. Entitled 'Field of Reeds' the reviewer compared the sound of the album to the aforementioned releases by Talk Talk. It is not released until next week (June 10th) but live streams can currently be found on various internet sites. I decided I had to give one a listen and I was suitably impressed. Impressed enough to put in an advance order for the CD.

No doubt I will be writing at more length on this subject in the weeks to come. Meanwhile you can currently hear the album on this site:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/may/30/these-new-puritans-popandrock

Also I cannot recommend the above albums by Talk Talk highly enough. Try to give them a listen if you can.