MAEL PATENT BOLDNESS

Ron and Russell Mael – combined age: 151 – should be in the autumn of their career, a heritage act recycling the hits. Instead, more than a half-century since their debut LP, Sparks are enjoying an Indian summer of acclaim and popularity. As they prepare to release their 26th idiosyncratic pop album (including FFS), back with their original label Island after a 45-year break, they take a reverse journey through their body of work while considering their imminent landmark concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Royal Albert Hall. What kind of shows can we expect? “Sexy and cerebral,” they promise Jeremy Allen.

- Jeremy Allen

Specs saviours Sparks in LA, 2023: an attentive Ron Mael (right) perusing this photo caption, and his younger brother Russell: “It’s bizarre for a group, 26 albums in, to find a new, bigger, younger audience”

Things have been going suspiciously well for Sparks of late. Having somehow managed to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory so often over the last five or so decades, Ron and Russell Mael are now cruising on a tide of upward momentum. The FFS album, recorded with Franz Ferdinand, saw them return to the more traditional band format eight years ago after some time away, and since then, the albums Hippopotamus and A Steady Drip Drip Drip have both graced the UK Top 10 album charts, in 2017 and 2020 respectively. Moreover, a well-received Edgar Wright documentary, The Sparks Brothers, gave the duo a much-needed push back into the mainstream.

Now, with The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, expectations are riding high, not least because the Mael brothers are back at their old label, Island. A deal worked out during the pandemic means there’s been little contact in person between the Maels and the record label they left 45 years ago, though the collective enthusiasm has echoes of 1974 and Kimono My House. It’s enthusiasm not just for the buzz Sparks are generating again, but also for an album as remarkable as The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, 52 years into their recording career.