Into the Spirit (Song for Mark Hollis)

Listen here: Into the Spirit

Song for Mark Hollis - the single version

On 25 February 2023, the fourth anniversary of Mark Hollis' death, we released the 'Song for Mark Hollis' single. It is slightly different from the album version and the video version, as I have added more backing vocals and Mark's voice, from when he was interviewed in Denmark prior to the release of his solo album in 1998.

It is available on all digital platforms and contains previously unreleased versions of the song - see link above to iTunes.

A video is also available to watch below:

‘Into the Spirit (Song for Mark Hollis)’

Mark Hollis is in every fibre of the lyrics and feel for this song; space and time, and the sound of humanity. Many of the words are directly referencing Hollis’s own songs, who died as the RIIT’s project had just started (February 2019).

The opening line “This is where I find myself” is a reference to the repeated phrase in Talking Heads’ ‘Once In A Lifetime’ “And you may find yourself” – as a reflection on time passing by so quickly that one moment you leave school and the next you are over 50 with a house and family.

It was very difficult finding the confidence to arrange the music into something Mark Hollis would approve of. Initially I wanted to keep the silence and sparseness that was such a feature of Hollis’ solo album. However, I just did not have the required confidence to leave it alone and later added a host of instruments. The addition of drums and percussion during the second half, especially the cowbell, is a direct nod to Talk Talk’s ‘Desire’ how it starts quietly and then explodes violently with distortion and power. I hope in a manner that Hollis would approve. The producer and Talk Talk engineer Phill Brown was given a copy of the song before its release in early 2022 and was very complimentary about the song and production, which made me very happy indeed.

The backing vocals at the end are me and my son Theo (who was eight at the time)