Coffee-Table Notes

As 1980s pop myths go, the story of Talk Talk is one of the most mysterious. Graeme Thomson’s new book, In Another World – The Four Seasons of Talk Talk, digs deep into the story of the Mark Hollis fronted group who went from glossy synth-pop chart botherers over their first two albums before creating some of the most sublime musical meditations of their era.   Over three albums – The Colour of Spring (1986), Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991) – Talk Talk’s core trio of Hollis, bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris, plus producer Tim Friese-Greene, created a series of lushly crafted and increasingly insular soundscapes before disappearing for good. An eponymous stripped back 1998 solo album by Hollis hinted at things to come. As it turned out, it was a last gift to the world before he withdrew from music entirely.   The silence of all band members increased the Talk Talk legend, while the death of Hollis in 2019 aged sixty-four put a full stop on a group that e...

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh  Five stars   The seasons have shifted since Karine Polwart’s multi media elegy to a 200 year old Sabal palm tree about to be felled in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden first blew in to the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Back then, in the heat of such a turbulent backdrop, Polwart’s elegant mix of storytelling and song stood out enough to be declared a masterpiece. Eight months on, Polwart’s meticulously realised immersive song cycle has blossomed enough for a countrywide tour that begins at the Lyceum, where an early workshop of the show was presented.    From the moment Pippa Murphy’s environmental soundscape rattles with the wind, this homecoming of sorts remains a monument to the power of the natural world and the glorious constructions that grow from it. As the tree is plucked from the wild, taken across oceans to foreign lands and kept in glasshouses that can barely contain it, it evolves into a magnificently plumed hybrid it tu...

Times of strife of various kinds take over Scottish stages this month, with working class lives very much to the fore as well as showbiz, spies and taking to the skies.   Windblown Byre Theatre, St Andrews, 2 May; Eden Court, Inverness,  6 May ; The Pavilion, Glasgow,  8-9 May ; Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling,  14 May ; Perth Concert Hall,  16 May. Karine Polwart returns with her hugely successful fusion of storytelling and song inspired by a 200 year old tree at the Royal Botanic Garden. Featuring sound design by Pippa Murphy, stunning visuals by Jamie Wardrop and piano accompaniment by jazz pianist David Milligan, Polwart’s creation was described in The Herald’s five star review as ‘a work of monumental beauty’.      The High Life: The Musical – Still Living It! Eden Court, Inverness until 2 May; Dundee Rep,  6-9 May ; King’s Theatre, Glasgow,  12-23 May. More than three decades on from Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson’s short-lived Sco...