Talk

TALK functions as the stage moniker for Nicholas Durocher, the Canadian musician whose raspy rock delivery first drew widespread notice through the deeply felt, cosmic love ballad “Run Away to Mars.” After issuing the song independently in June 2021, the acoustic-driven track caught fire online the next year and ascended to the summit of Billboard’s Adult Alternative chart by early 2023. Durocher then shifted his base to Los Angeles, secured a contract with Capitol Records, and delivered his debut full-length, Lord of the Flies & Birds & Bees, that October.

Prior to adopting the solo identity TALK, Durocher had played bass in an Ottawa country band. When the worldwide pandemic arrived, he withdrew to his parents’ residence in the Stittsville district of Ottawa and kept composing. One evening, after viewing Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction film Interstellar, he started crafting an impassioned, space-bound love song titled “Run Away to Mars.” Anchored by acoustic guitar yet scaled for arena impact, the track appeared on his own in June 2021. Though it registered only modest streaming traction at first, Durocher placed it on his initial EP, Talk to Me, before the year ended.

Still convinced the song had more reach, TALK mounted a fresh promotional campaign in 2022; the track rapidly gained momentum across social platforms and eventually entered charts on both sides of the border, peaking at number 22 on Canada’s Hot 100 in early 2023. By then TALK and his band had settled in Los Angeles, signed with Capitol, and unveiled the follow-up single “How to Save a Life.” Live dates ensued, among them support slots for Canadian country-pop icon Shania Twain, culminating in the October 2023 arrival of Lord of the Flies & Birds & Bees.