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May 12, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, on May 26 via Island. Now they have shared the album’s third single, “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is,” which is about a 22-hour-old baby who wants to return to the womb after seeing how terrible the world can be. It was shared via a music video featuring a whole lot of babies. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Previously Sparks shared the album’s first single, title track “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte.” Then they shared a video for the song starring none other than Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett (who is nominated again this year for Tár). “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared the album’s second single, “Veronica Lake,” which is inspired by the 1940s movie star known for playing femme fatales in film noir movies and was also one of our Songs of the Week.

The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte will be the band’s first album on Island Records in 47 years. The band released several albums on the label in the 1970s, including 1974’s classic Kimono My House. Their last album for the label was 1976’s Big Beat.

Sparks’ last album was 2020’s A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. In 2021, Edgar Wright directed an acclaimed documentary on the band, The Sparks Brothers. In 2021, they also co-wrote the musical film, Annette, with director Leos Carax and also did all the music for it. In 2022, they announced a reissue series.

The Mael brothers collectively had this to say about the new album and rejoining Island in a previous press release: “Funny how things work! One of the most memorable periods for Sparks, the one that forever cemented our relationship with the UK and also exposed Sparks to a bigger audience around the world, was the ’70s Island Records era. Chris Blackwell, Muff Winwood, and Co. went all in on our album, Kimono My House, and released a truly non-conventional first single, ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both of Us.’ Their belief (and ours) proved right: that there was a place for both bold creativity and commerciality in pop music. And here we find ourselves in 2023, almost 50 years later, re-signing with Island Records, again with an album that we all feel is as bold and uncompromising as anything we did back then, or for that matter, anytime throughout our career. We’re happy that after so much time, we’ve reconnected with Island, sharing the same spirit of adventure that we all had way back when, but with our new album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte.”

Louis Bloom, president of Island, had this to say: “Sparks have always been one of the most original, ground-breaking and creative groups in pop and their longevity is partly down to their ability to constantly reinvent themselves. It’s an honor and thrill having Sparks back on Island. Next year it will be 50 years since Island released ‘Kimono My House.’ That album sounded like it came from the future and once again with The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, Ron & Russell have created a pop masterpiece that sounds like no one else.“

Sparks’ manager Sue Harris added: “Levels of interest in Sparks, worldwide, have never been so high. In part this is due to the releases of the Edgar Wright directed documentary The Sparks Brothers and Annette, the musical film Ron and Russell wrote, but it is also due to their seemingly inexhaustible creativity and sheer hard work. Each album is more ambitious, each tour larger and more far reaching. It was important to partner with a label who could match the band’s ambition on a global scale.”

Sparks 2023 Tour Dates:

May

23 – Oxford, UK – New Theatre Oxford
24 – Liverpool, UK – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
26 – Glasgow, UK – SEC Armadillo
27 – Manchester, UK – Bridgewater Hall
29 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
30 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall

June

2 – Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound Barcelona *
8 – Madrid, Spain – Primavera Sound Madrid *
10 – Porto, Portugal – Primavera Sound Porto *
13 – Paris, France – Le Grand Rex
14 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg, Grote Zaal
16 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Store Vega
18 – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom
20 – Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal
22 – Wolverhampton, UK – The Civic at The Halls
27 – New York, NY, USA – Beacon Theatre
28 – Philadelphia, PA, USA – Keswick Theatre
30 – Washington, DC, USA – Lincoln Theatre

July

1 – Boston, MA, USA – The Wilbur
3 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Danforth Music Hall
5 – Chicago, IL, USA – Copernicus Center
6 – Milwaukee, WI, USA – Pabst Theater
8 – Kansas City, MO, USA – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
9 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
12 – Dallas, TX, USA – Texas Theatre
13 – Austin, TX, USA – ACL Live at the Moody Theatre
16 – Los Angeles, CA, USA – Hollywood Bowl †
24 – Osaka, Japan – Namba Hatch
25 – Tokyo, Japan – Line Cube Shibuya

* Festival Appearance
† w/ Special Guests They Might Be Giants

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