Silence Is Talking

"Silence is Talking"
Single by Reverend and the Makers
Released July 13, 2009
Recorded 2008–2009
Genre Indie rock
Label Wall Of Sound
Reverend and the Makers singles chronology
"Sundown On the Empire / 18-30 / The Machine - Remixes
(2008)
"Silence is Talking"
(2009)
"No Soap (In A Dirty War)"
(2009)
A French Kiss in the Chaos track listing
  1. "Silence is Talking"
  2. "Hidden Persuaders"
  3. "No Wood Just Trees"
  4. "Professor Pickles"
  5. "Long Long Time"
  6. "No Soap (in a Dirty War)"
  7. "People Shapers/Manifesto"
  8. "Mermaids"
  9. "The End"
  10. "Hard Time For Dreamers"

"Silence is Talking" is a song by Reverend and the Makers in 2009 from their second album, A French Kiss in the Chaos. It was released on 13 July 2009, just a day after the Sheffield band supported Oasis on their stadium tour. The song was the first on the band's setlist for the Wembley Stadium dates as well as being a signal to the music industry that the band have changed their sound, following Jon McClure's pleas to fellow musicians to "stop making music about girls at bus stops", like he and the "(Arctic) Monkeys used to do".

The song's trumpet part samples the main riff of "Low Rider" by War, which is known for being used in UK advertisements for Marmite. McClure stated that the band would earn no money from "Silence Is Talking" due to the refusal to clear the sample.[1]

Contents

Release

Released on 13 July through the band's record label Wall of Sound, the single is the follow-up to the band's debut album The State of Things which did well in the charts, with "Heavyweight Champion of the World" becoming a top ten hit in the process. The single was released on 7"/CD and digital download. The single was released under this synopsis:

"Silence is Talking" rides on a blissed out euphoric groove and looks set to become a huge summer anthem, dominating the airways and dance floors from Sheffield to Ibiza, festivals and clubs, rockers and ravers.

Reception

Reviews to the single, if not the album as a whole, were largely positive. Digital Spy said that if the band could keep this standard up they "may soon walk the walk, rather than just talk the talk".[2]

Many others thought the single was impressive, including the BBC who were impressed by the comeback single, with Fraser McAlpine saying the song sounded "lively, a bit fiery, a bit tasty" and it "swaggered like it is entitled to the entire world".[3] NME was similarly impressed, saying McClure's lyrics "keeps one toe in the waters of post-punk musical history and one fist pumping the air".[4]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jon McClure

CD
No. Title Length
1. "Silence is Talking" (Radio Mix)  
2. "More Than Yourself"    
3. "Silence Is Talking" (Jagz Kooner Remix)  
7"
No. Title Length
1. "Silence is Talking" (Album Version)  
2. "Bullet for the General" (Live at Club 60)  
Digital Bundle
No. Title Length
1. "Silence is Talking" (Radio Mix)  
2. "Bird of Prey"    
3. "Bogey Man"    

References