He was never spectacularly rich, but he evidently did not need to work and royalties from Talk Talk songs eased and enabled his retreat. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

A new generation of musicians led by Guy Garvey of Elbow and Thom Yorke of Radiohead frequently referenced the band and cited Spirit of Eden (1988) as a totemic work. Talk Talk would push their methods to radical heights to achieve this sonic and spiritual ascension. In a mere eight years and five albums, Talk Talk undertook a transformation unprecedented in popular music history. Well, the world of music of cinema or TV is complex and full of unrealised projects, but that's particularly frustrating.

The book begins, predictably, at the beginning, with the parents, the Essex childhood, the year spent studying child psychology at Sussex University where Hollis met Flick, and so on. Hollis’ musical and spiritual quest could never have happened if it wasn’t for the collaborators around him. A Perfect Silence includes interviews with many people who worked closely with Mark and helps us get as close as possible to understanding the man who walked away from music (and public life) almost 25 years ago and never resurfaced.

All the while, take after take, Hollis relentlessly listened after that elusive feel and didn’t stop before it was there. He resented public performances but by the time he gave up touring in 1986 Talk Talk had become a formidable and compelling live act. From the beginning, Talk Talk was a rocket with a clear trajectory – discarding elements, parts, and (lunar) modules along its way as it moved through the spheres. The transformation of this band over a relative few albums is unrivalled in terms of how much the sound and direction changed. The book is available in two distinct editions, both featuring a cover design created by long-time Talk Talk collaborator James Marsh.Hollis has stated about the song…“That was someone born before the turn of the century…and dying within one year of the First World War at a young age. At the base of it all, he had a really gentle, kind, sweet character, but was capable of great cruelty and ignorance at the same time,” one long-time collaborator said.

Uneasy with his fame and fiercely private, the post-rock pioneer left behind a musical legacy of extraordinary beauty. Everything begins with Hollis’ older brother, Ed Hollis – a Dj, producer, manager, and manic inspirator. Ben Wardle knows the music industry’s intricacies - he was a talent spotter for Warner and the creator of indie label Indolent. After that, a seven year gap before his last work, a self titled solo effort originally intended to be a Talk Talk album titled Mountains of the Moon, and that was that – twenty years of silence was its only follow up.

Ben Wardle, a lecturer in music business at the University of Gloucestershire, has set himself the challenge of getting behind or going over the wall and telling Hollis’ story. He has written several books, and contributed features to publications including The Guardian, and The Word. They help him fill in some of the gaps in the story: where Hollis was living at certain times; how the albums were recorded and in what circumstances (rumours about opium-laced sessions during the recording of Spirit of Eden are shown to be nonsense); and what it was like to be around Hollis – sometimes fun and sometimes maddening. It’s the expectation that must have been in existence at the turn of the century, the patriotism that must’ve existed at the start of the war and the disillusionment that must’ve come immediately afterwards.

Today, beyond the records, beyond the music, the rest is silence – or at least that is how Mark Hollis would have wished it, and his wife and sons seem determined to honour his legacy by saying nothing and keeping the door to the walled garden firmly locked.During the years of Hollis’ withdrawal something significant happened: Talk Talk’s critical reputation was re-evaluated.