Flipping through a newspaper to find upcoming gigs, a friend of mine tapped me on the shoulder, his fingertip pointing to one date on the newspaper. “This guy is the next big thing, I’m telling you,” he said, pointing to the box around Talos’ name. What else was there to do but to make it to Whelan’s and see for ourselves whether or not Talos could live up to the hype?
As we gather in front of the stage at Whelan’s the size of the crowd is already boding well for Talos, as the floor and balconies are packed with people murmuring excitedly. He finally takes to the stage with his band, opening with the number “Landscapes,” and there’s something in the music that changes the atmosphere of the room. In his music, there is that rare example of a song that has simplicity but still captivates, with his clear, echoing vocals bringing a unique quality to the track.
The standout of the night, “Your Love is an Island,” begins with the room in darkness, except for the lights shining on Talos and his guitar, as he strums the chords. With the lights dimmed like this, we can’t really see each other in the middle of the audience, but there’s still the unifying murmur of the crowd singing every word to the song.
Talos has begun to step away from being just unknown act with promise and seems to be on the edge of going global with his music, and his playing a sold-out gig at Whelan’s seemed to encapsulate that. Being in that venue itself always has an air of intimacy found at coffee shop open mic gigs, but Whelan’s has a reputation of being the venue in which musicians get their start, and looking at the list of notable Whelan’s alumni, such as Hozier and Ed Sheeran, it’s a reputation that is well earned. With Talos promising new music in 2017 in the form of a full album, only time will tell if Talos will soon find a spot on that same list. Listen to “Your Love is an Island” below.