Mark Hollis (album)

Mark Hollis is the only solo album by English musician Mark Hollis, after the breakup of his earlier group Talk Talk. The album was released on Polydor Records on 26 January 1998, and reissued on Pond Life on 13 March 2000. In 2003, the album was released in LP format on Universal Records.

The album did not mark a return for Hollis to the music industry or live performance; he stated at the time of the album's release that "There won't be any gig, not even at home in the living room. This material isn't suited to play live." At Hollis's insistence, the faders were all kept at the same level, and the level of each instrument was determined by its proximity to the microphone. Warne Livesey was producing the sessions, but he was dismissed after he moved one of the faders.

Engineer Phill Brown, who also recorded Laughing Stock, stated that, compared to the final Talk Talk album, which he considered "one of [Phill Brown's] best projects" but "dark and claustrophobic", he found the solo release "the opposite…- open, restful and at times fantastically beautiful".

On 11 October 2011, Ba Da Bing Records released Mark Hollis on vinyl, marking the first time the album was issued on vinyl in the US. A reissue of the album was released on 18 October 2019 through UMC/Polydor.

Background and content

"A Life (1895 1915)", which has been called "the album's epic centrepiece" refers to Roland Leighton (1895–1915), a British soldier and poet who was the fiancé of Vera Brittain at the time of his death in World War I.

Cover art

The cover photo, taken by Stephen Lovell-Davis, is of southern Italy Easter bread designed to resemble the lamb of god. Lovell-Davis stated that Hollis selected the photo "much to the consternation of the record company."

Hollis stated about the image, "I like the way something appears to come out of his head; it makes me think of a fountain of ideas. Also the manner how the eyes are positioned fascinates me. When I saw the picture for the first time I had to laugh, but there's something very tragic about it at the same time."