The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
Part of the fun of hearing a new Sparks album in 2023 is realizing just how deep their influence continues to run, whether through the meticulous theatricality of artists like Jack Antonoff (Fun., Bleachers) and Phoenix or the sheer overload of hyperpop. The imagery is still funny and immediate (the bored but overemotional protagonist of the title track, the baby trying to climb back into its mother’s womb on “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is”), and the music wound so tightly it sounds like its buttons are about to pop off (“We Go Dancing”). And while the brotherly duo’s blend of bitter irony and wide-eyed novelty might’ve seemed misanthropic 50 years ago, now it sounds like a familiar prognosis: Just listen to “Gee, That Was Fun,” where an ever-swelling din of voices lists off all the other things they could’ve done instead of being with you before a lonely Russell Mael concedes he had a pretty good time after all.
The Mael brothers are riding high. Their 26th album strikes the ideal Sparksian balance of madcap melody, labyrinthine arrangement, and stinging social satire.
26 albums in the Mael brothers continue to prove why they're your favourite band's favourite band. Read the NME review
“They always said you must stay between the lines/Be easily defined/Or you’re wasting all your time,” sings Russell Mael on “It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.”
Sparks prove that sometimes you really can go home again on a refreshing, engaging new album – their first on Island Records since the group’s glorious
Overflowing with delicious melodies and lyrics to match, the Mael brothers’ 26th album is all hits, no misses
The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte by Sparks album review by Ryan Meyer. The legendary duo's full-length drops on May 26th via Island Records
The LA duo’s 26th album follows their musical film Annette, but behind the pomp and theatrics and absurdity is a firm grounding in reality