Having pioneered their own eccentric brands of glam, electro-disco, art rock, synthpop and chamber pop, all the while transitioning from mainstream idol status to cult staple and back repeatedly, there was no guessing how a member of Sparks would handle the exercise like this one.
Even as the format calls for an artist to reveal the music and artists who tap into their very essence, laying bare their emotional attachment to the work they love for all to see, you know that the very essence of Sparks relies on their ability to shapeshift and therefore, never to be clearly apprehended. They held up their end of the bargain by providing such versatile material to work with; it’s up to the listeners to sort and decipher them for themselves.
Perhaps super-producer Jack Antonoff put it best in his interview for Edgar Wright’s 2021 documentary. The Sparks Brothers: “All of pop music has been rearranged on Sparks.” How can you narrow down your entire musical world to a short, finite thing when you’ve done it everything?
Incidentally, both Antonoff and Sparks will appear at this year’s Primavera Pro – where the Mael brothers will discuss the impact of their music over the past 50 years, highlighting their influence, unique style, witty lyrics and ability to constantly reinvent themselves.
As expected then, the band’s supple voice, Russell, delivers a delightfully diverse nine-song setlist. Just reading it, you get the sense that he could go on to link each selection together with thousands of other songs that fit the ones he’s half-included – this portrait of the artist can only remain a sketch, it suggests.
He sends his photos along with a disclaimer saying this. “The list is like saying you have ten children: your house is on fire and unfortunately you can only save nine of your children. Which of your children are you keeping?”
“That note was me trying to be defensive without being too defensive,” he sheepishly admits when I ask him about his process for deciding which songs to include. “I’ve been reading lists that other artists have made for this column and I’ve run into the problem of not knowing if you should stick strictly to inspirations from when you were young or inspirations now.”
“But the inspiration of being alive as a musician never stops, it continues! I think it’s a good thing when you can find something in the zeitgeist and you can get excited in the same way that you were inspired by music when you were first starting out.”
“So,” he concludes, pulling out a printed sheet of notes so he doesn’t forget any of the points he wants to make about each song, “there’s some old along with some new on the list.”
It would be a mistake to assume that he would ever choose the “safe” option in any sense of the word. In keeping with the essence of what Sparks are, as far as that can be defined, there will always be a tendency to draw from their historical past while keeping an eye on the future.
This is evident in the bold experimentation of their new album, The girl is crying into her lattewhich surrounds aggressive glitch-pop, stunning classic crossover ballads and guitar rockers, all accompanied by signature laugh-out-loud lyrical twists.
If there’s any clear line to his choices here, it’s that they marked a moment of reinvention for each artist’s respective genre, creating a limited sonic world in which they could invent and reinvent, just as Sparks continues to do. “Security” is the last thing anyone should be looking for here.
Perhaps sensing that we’ll be protesting the absence of his musical phantom limb, another concession comes with the fact that we only get a piece of the full puzzle with his Nine Song selections. “Ron would probably have a completely different idea of what he would choose, so you’re only getting half of Sparks here.”
However, Russell Mael’s selection does more than its share to provide insight into the inner workings of music’s most enduring and prolific oddities. Here he poses for a rare in-game portrait of the artist – just don’t expect him to be in the frame the next time you turn around.