Press Release Date: Wednesday 9 October 2019, 10am Contact: [email protected] / 0207 921 0676 ​ ​ ​ Images: downloadable here ​ ​ Southbank Centre announces full line-up for worldwide exclusive: A Celebration of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis ​ Including: Alexis Taylor, Andy Bell, Hayden Thorpe, Jane Weaver, Joan As Police Woman, Mark Gardener, My Brightest Diamond, Orlando Weeks, Simon Brenner, Sophie Barker, Tim Burgess and Turin Brakes

Southbank Centre, in partnership with Eat Your Own Ears, announces the full line-up for a special one-off night paying tribute to the pioneering and hugely influential 1980s British pop and rock band, Talk Talk, and their late frontman Mark Hollis, at Royal Festival Hall, 26 ​ November 2019. ​

Special guests announced today are:

● Frontman of legendary UK band Hot Chip Alexis Taylor ​ ● English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Hayden Thorpe, formerly of the ​ ​ indie pop band Wild Beasts ● Progressive pop singer, songwriter, musician, producer and label owner Jane ​ Weaver ● American musician, singer-songwriter and producer Joan Wasser, aka Joan As ​ Police Woman ● Founding members and songwriters of Oxford seminal four-piece Ride, Andy Bell ​ and Mark Gardener ​ ● My Brightest Diamond, the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ​ Shara Nova ● Former frontman of Indie rock band The Maccabees and solo singer-songwriter Orlando Weeks ● British singer and songwriter, formerly of ambient heavyweights Zero 7, Sophie ​ Barker ● English musician, singer-songwriter and record label founder Tim Burgess, best ​ ​ known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Charlatans ● The ever evolving hit band Turin Brakes ​

A Celebration of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis brings together founding member of Talk Talk ​ Simon Brenner alongside the Spirit of Talk Talk band. With an extraordinary roll-call of ​ guests they will perform songs from across the band’s eclectic catalogue, including their groundbreaking final records Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991) neither of ​ ​ ​ ​

which have ever before been performed live. The event follows the death of Mark Hollis, the band’s lead singer and chief songwriter, in February 2019.

The Spirit of Talk Talk band includes former members Jeep Hook, Martin Ditcham and Rupert Black alongside David Rhodes, Ian Curnow and guest bassist John Mckenzie. Musical direction is from Grammy and Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter and past Mark Hollis collaborator Phil Ramocon.

Alexis Taylor, Hot Chip, said: “Mark Hollis and Talk Talk were masters of creating ​ ​ atmosphere, drama and tension on beautiful sounding, original, expansive and, sometimes, very sparse recordings. They carried on a tradition started by the likes of Can and Miles Davis, in terms of editing down long takes of improvisation to create masterpieces that live on forever as long-playing records. It will be an honour to pay tribute to their music and share the stage with some of the musicians involved in making these wonderful recordings.”

Joan As Police Woman, said: "I was thrilled to be invited to contribute a song to the Spirit ​ ​ of Talk Talk tribute album and book and now I can’t wait to collaborate and perform at ​ Southbank Centre for this special celebration of the life and music of Mark Hollis.”

Tom Baker, Eat Your Own Ears, and Bengi Ünsal, Head of Contemporary Music, Southbank Centre, said: “This celebration of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis is going to be a very ​ ​ special, one-off evening of magical music. It’s fantastic to have such an array of brilliant guests from Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, Jane Weaver, and Ride’s Mark Gardener and Andy Bell, to Joan As Police Woman alongside some of the fabulous musicians that have played with Mark Hollis on the Talk Talk albums and on tour. It’s going to be an unforgettable and truly magnificent event.”

This event coincides with the release of The Spirit of Talk Talk, a full colour book celebrating ​ ​ the music and art of the legendary band, compiled by Toby Benjamin. The book includes a preface by founder member Simon Brenner, interviews with Paul Webb and Lee Harris, contributions and tributes from musicians, friends and fans, plus a heartfelt afterword honouring founder and leader Mark Hollis. The book will be available for purchase on the night.

# ENDS # EVENT LISTINGS:

A CELEBRATION OF TALK TALK AND MARK HOLLIS Tuesday 26 November 2019, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Ticketed, £25 - £50 Southbank Centre presents a special night paying tribute to the pioneering and hugely influential 1980s British pop and rock band, Talk Talk, and their late frontman Mark Hollis. A Celebration of ​ Talk Talk and Mark Hollis features founding and former members of the band joined by a line-up of ​ ​ special guests including Joan As Police Woman, Tim Burgess, Jane Weaver, Alexis Taylor and Orlando Weeks to perform songs from across the band’s eclectic catalogue, including their groundbreaking final records Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991) neither of which have ​ ​ ​ ​ ever before been performed live. Presented in partnership with Eat Your Own Ears and coinciding with the release of The Spirit of Talk Talk book. For more information see www.spiritoftalktalk.com. ​ ​ ​ ​

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/132355-celebration-talk-talk-and-mark-hollis-2019

Join the conversation: @southbankcentre #SCgigs

For further press information, interview requests or to request press tickets please contact: Alexandra Shaw, Press Officer, [email protected] / 020 ​ ​ ​ 7921 0676

Listings for all Southbank Centre Gigs can be found here. ​ ​ Press images for all upcoming Southbank Centre Gigs can be downloaded here. ​ ​ ​ ​

UPCOMING GIGS & CONTEMPORARY MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE:

KAYHAN KALHOR & THE REMBRANDT TRIO Friday 11 October 2019, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Ticketed, £20 - £30 Grammy-award winning Kayhan Kalhor, virtuoso of the Persian kamancheh (an Iranian bowed string ​ ​ instrument), is joined by Dutch jazz musicians Rembrandt Frerichs, Tony Overwater and Vinsent Planjer - together The Rembrandt Trio - for a live performance of their otherworldly 2019 album, It’s ​ Still Autumn. Performing in two parts, ‘Dawn’ and ‘Dusk, the four musicians weave compositions ​ together through improvisation to take the audience on a musical journey through an imaginary autumn landscape that slowly develops from a swirling river into a nightly thunderstorm. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/137101-kayhan-kalhor-rembrandt-trio-2019

GEORGE DALARAS Wednesday 16 October 2019, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Ticketed, £40 & £50 George Dalaras, one of the most successful Greek musicians of all time, makes his appearance in Royal Festival Hall. Rembetiko - also known as the Greek Blues - came to prominence at the same time as jazz, and Dalaras was one of the genre’s innovators. Dalaras has released more than 95 solo albums, sold more than 20 million albums, toured all over the world and collaborated with artists including Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Paco de Lucía and Al Di Meola. He brings his acoustic band to join him for this unique performance. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/130993-george-dalaras-2019

NOVELIST + SPECIAL GUESTS Friday 18 October 2019, 10.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Clore Ballroom, £12.50 Part of London Literature Festival ​ An exclusive late night live show with grime MC Novelist and very special guests as part of Southbank ​ ​ Centre’s London Literature Festival. Audiences get the chance to meet and hear from the ​ independent-minded, politically active South London rapper, as he shares his visionary experiments in grime and hip-hop in this intimate gig. Novelist will also be participating in Southbank Centre’s Violet Nights before the show. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/137771-novelist-2019

DEEP∞MINIMALISM 2.0

Saturday 2 November - Sunday 3 November 2019, Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall, various times and prices Following the sell out success of Southbank Centre’s first DEEP∞MINIMALISM festival in 2016, cellist and producer Oliver Coates programmes DEEP∞MINIMALISM 2.0, a weekend dedicated to meditative listening and deep concentration. Day one features Eliane Radigue’s sonic exploration of birth, death and life beyond death (written over eight years, and encompassing the death of her son), Hanne Darboven’s iridescent patterns for piano and cellos and Kathryn Williams’s single-breath flute exhalations, which encourage the audience to breath with the performer. The sounds of electronic music and musique concrète pioneer Tod Dockstader are interposed throughout the second DEEP∞MINIMALISM 2.0 day, alongside works by Morton Feldman, Laura Cannel and Hanne Darboven’s major composition for organ, Requiem, performed by James McVinnie. ​ ​ https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/deepminimalism

CHLOÉ: ENDLESS REVISIONS Tuesday 5 November 2019, 7.45pm, Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, £15 Performing the UK premiere of her latest album Endless Revisions, French producer and DJ Chloé ​ ​ constructs a musical and physical playground in the space between electro and techno with a set design that responds and reacts to the music. Endless Revisions, released in 2017 under Chloé’s own ​ ​ label, Lumière Noire, evolves with every live performance, transforming in front of the audience, feeding them with new textures and inspiration. These new versions of the album are replayed, recreated and restructured alongside the evolution of the performance’s very architecture. She layers electronic music with synthesizers, drum machines and pedal to create a sonic tension, mixing electro and techno with a touch of new wave and post-punk. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/139576-chloe-endless-revisions-2019

CHLOÉ: SLOW-MO Wednesday 6 November 2019, 7.45pm, Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, £15 Slow-Mo Live premiered at TAP in Poitiers and Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, where the audience lay ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ down during the show, and at Sónar festival, Barcelona, in 2018. This is the first time it is performed in ​ ​ the UK. Extending her reach beyond club or techno, Chloé slows down the tempo in this improvised live performance, taking the time to play with textures and atmosphere to create another way of listening with the public. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/139577-chloe-slow-mo-2019

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS PRESENTS: OPIA Ft. Kiasmos, Vaal, Grandbrothers, Rhye, Poppy Ackroyd, H gni & Ensemble, Hania Rani, Josin Friday 8 November 2019, 6pm - 11pm and 10.30pm - 2am, Southbank Centre multi-venue (Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, Royal Festival Hall Clore Ballroom), £25 & £65 In this worldwide exclusive, BAFTA-award winning Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds presents his new project OPIA and takes over the 17-acre Southbank Centre site filling every one of ​ ​ the world class venues with a hand-picked line-up of artists, friends and collaborators. The first half of the evening (6 - 11pm) includes performances from Arnalds himself, Grandbrothers, Rhye, Poppy ​ Ackroyd, H gni & Ensemble, Hania Rani and Josin before a special OPIA Lates (10.30pm - 2am) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ features live and DJ sets from Kiasmos, Vaal and Rhye Ambient Improvisation + Special Guests. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Wristband tickets allow audiences to access every artist across the venue. https://southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/olafur-arnalds-presents-opia

CONCRETE LATES: THEON CROSS, DJ SPINNA, DONNA LEAKE Friday 15 November 2019, 10.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, For Ages 18+, £12.50 - £15

Part of EFG London Jazz Festival ​ A collaboration with Boiler Room and EFG London Jazz Festival connects the dots between club culture and contemporary jazz. Theon Cross, one of the stalwarts of the London jazz scene, tuba player, composer and key member of UK jazz renegades Sons of Kemet, performs on the night with a full live band. His distinctive, swaggering approach to playing the tuba and high-energy style reflects London’s vast musical underground scene - including grime, dub, soca, and other sounds from the Afro-Carribean diaspora. Cross practised and performed with Southbank Centre Creative Learning Partners Kinetico Bloco and Tomorrow's Warriors in his youth so is no stranger to Southbank Centre. Joining Cross for this night are DJ Spinna, who cut his teeth as a producer for lyrical giants including Eminem, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, and one of London’s most acclaimed selectors Donna Leake. In partnership with Boiler Room and EFG London Jazz Festival. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/138776-concrete-lates-theon-cross-dj-spinna-donna-lea ke-2019

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre and one of the UK's top five visitor attractions, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day.

The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to four Resident Orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and four Associate Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain).

Gigs & Contemporary Music at Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre delivers a year-round programme of more than 200 gigs and contemporary music performances across its three main venues - Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room - its public spaces and pop-up stages. The annual and award-winning Meltdown festival ​ ​ launched in 1993 and is the longest-running artist-curated music festival in the world, each year inviting a different cultural figure to act as curator. Previous curators include David Bowie, Yoko Ono, M.I.A and in 2019 Nile Rodgers. As well as fifty years of presenting global stars such as Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley, Grace Jones, Nina Simone, Pink Floyd, The Cure and Nine Inch Nails, it gives a stage to the best rising talent each Friday for free in its Future Tense series. The monthly club night Concrete Lates showcases underrepresented talent in international underground ​ ​ electronic music. And its outdoor summer stages entertain thousands of members of the public every year for free.