Terribly sad news has reached of the passing of Eoin French, the Cork singer-songwriter who was the driving force behind the band Talos.
French had been privately battling with cancer, and passed away over the weekend. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
His family posted a message on his socials saying:
“It is with great sadness that we let you know that our friend Eoin French, known to many the world over as Talos, has passed away after a short illness.
Eoin passed peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of Sunday August 11 2024 in his native Cork, surrounded by his loved ones.
A beautiful soul, a true artist, a son, a husband, a father, and a friend. We are devastated by his passing.
As was his wish, there will be new music from Talos to share with you all in the future.”
His life was celebrated with a moving wake and funeral at Connolly’s of Leap this week with performances from Irish and Icelandic musicians, as planned by Eoin.
It’s a terrible loss for the Irish music community, the loss of a unique songwriting and production talent, with a falsetto that soared and music that approached the celestial. He was only 36 years-old. Just a young man. He will be sorely missed.
French came into the Irish music consciousness, first as a member of the band Hush War Cry in his college years studying architecture in UCC, a band I compared to Wild Beasts, and then as Talos, a project for which he wrote and co-produced music for, and performed with a coterie of friends.
The music of Talos drew from ambient, pop, rich with reverb, falsetto and honey-eyed song craft. Talos released three albums, 2017’s Wild Alee, 2019’s Far Out Dust and 2022’s Dear Chaos.
The debut album, released on BMG, featured breakthrough song ‘Tethered Bones’, ‘This Is Us Colliding’, ‘In Time’ and my personal favourite ‘Your Love Is An Island’. It was nominated for a Choice Music Prize that year.
Talos became a touring concern travelling around Europe and North America growing an audience that heard the songs on streaming services.
Talos played the music trail at Sounds From A Safe Harbour in Cork in 2015, and French would return as a key collaborator in the festival curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National among others, where he performed in close quarters with the likes of Icelandic musician Olafur Arnalds. He would later spend a lot of time in Reykjavík.
By album two, there was an increased emphasis on swirling electronic textures that reached high peaks, with songs like ‘The Light Is Upon Us’ encapsulating that transition, alongside ‘See Me’ and ‘Far Out Dust’.
Dear Chaos was released in 2022, with input from production partner Ross Dowling, Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson and producer Brian Joseph in Eaux Clair in Canada and took an introspective turn after the relative bombast that it follows. It features songs like ‘Dance Against The Calm’, ‘Landscapes’ and ‘This Is Us Colliding’.
In 2022, French provided the music for Emmet Kirwan’s Accents stage show, was nominated for Best Soundscape in the Irish Times Theatre Awards for his work.
The last song from the Talos project, and that Eoin French, recorded and released was the Loah-sampling song ‘Solarr’ released in 2023.
RIP Frenchie. Thank you for your music, your positive energy, and for always flashing that warm smile in greeting. RIP you beautiful soul.
Here’s a selection of some of my favourite work from Eoin French.
