Atmospherically anthemic and reinforced with that infectious rhythmic groove we’ve come to love Talk in Code for, More Than Friends is chockfull of it, and it’s their latest single, to be released on Friday 22nd August 2025 via Regent Street Records….
Even if you’re accounted for now, happily married and matured like a fine wine, the recollections of a blossoming relationship and the eagerness versus apprehension it provokes will never be pushed down a dark alley of your memory lane; successful or epic fail, they live inside the mind forever, I’m afraid! Frontman, Chris Stevens said of the single, “we’ve all been there, in a situation waiting for the other to make the first move, to validate our feelings, or save face!”
I could tell you a few stories, but will save you the agony! Especially as the earliest would be set in the eighties, about getting hot under the collar over girls in rah-rah skirts, leg warmers and dippy-boppers! But that’s the beauty of this song’s simple premise; if you’re older the irresistible eighties feel to the sound assists you in extracting the emotions needed to savour a memory or two, and you’ll stare back up at your Morten Harket or Kim Wilde poster, should the blu-tac not have dried out, praying they’ll bless you with a cure to your longing!! Billy Joel, you charlatan, it isn’t that easy to tell her about it!

Whereas if you’re younger and, as gen z generally are, far more practical to be praying to Smash Hits pullout posters, you might relate the song’s narrative to a newfound emotion, sharable on TikTok. But the eighties vibe still functions as a mechanism, because, let’s face it, musical innovators of the eighties are the catalysts to contemporary pop. I was careful here not to suggest eighties music was better, though with my rose-tinted specs on, the thought was!
And that’s what makes Talk in Code so universally engaging; it bridges a needed gap between eighties new wave electronica and nineties indie pop. In goes the synths, guitars riffs, the immortal choruses and rousing hooks, and what it exhausts is fresh and pumping, modern yet as timeless as Chris’s Adidas jackets, like someone slipped a rocket between the bum cheeks of Tony Hadley, and whip, zoom he’s top of the download chart faster than you could cry Oasis.

For the reflective mood to the band’s artistry, which this track seems to strengthen, More Than Friends might be considered typical for the band’s direction, but as ever, they are growers, and after a listen or three you’ll find the quintessential is challenged with each new release, because this band are tight, they’re professional, and bounded by great PR, management, and a truly loyal fanbase. A base which will be singing this back to them, in blue sunglasses, at their numerous live performances within the next month!
The single’s launch party is at the Vic, Swindon, on Friday 22nd August. Tickets HERE
Another cracker, Talk in Code. For everyone else, pre-save it HERE!

Trending….
Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution Coming to Wharf Theatre
The Wharf Theatre production presents an electrifying confrontation between artistic truth and political authority, with a content warning! Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution is…
Keep readingFor A Lifetime, Luke Gittins
Newlywed, what lengths would you want your partner to go to with their wedding speech and gift? A six track EP of the most beautifully…
Keep readingRadiant by Kirsty A Wilmott: Local Author Book Review
While The Hebrew Bible depicts women in composite roles, from submissive domestic positions in a patriarchal society to powerful figures of leadership excelling moral courage,…
Keep readingWe Were Ready for Some Flocksteady Beats!
By Ben Romain. Images: ©Alice Rose Photography Following a stand out long weekend of blues and americana at the Hillbilly Hootenanny, Victoria and I managed…
Keep readingWhat to Do? September in Wiltshire
Nearly September, time to sew those name tags onto school uniforms. Still, loads to entertain you throughout the month. I’ve exhausted our ever-updating event calendar,…
Keep readingKruger Will Nick Your Vote, Johnny Foreigner
Featured Image: Danny Kruger, and an alien egg he’s fertilising in hope the creature will vote for him I’d bet Cheddar Man would’ve had something…
Keep readingTrouble in Wiltshire Town Centre; Let’s All Point the Finger at The Nearest Venue For Clickbait
I’m not going to tell you what town centre or venue it was in the headline; just like them. But this isn’t about good nor…
Keep readingThe Turn; Debut Album from Salisbury’s 5 Nights at Adyans
Formed just two years ago at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury, award-winning four-piece youth band, 5 Nights at Adyans, look set to release their highly-anticipated…
Keep reading
One thought on “Talk in Code Announces New Single; More Than Friends”