Sparks on their enigmatic image: ‘There are no ghosts in the closet kept from everybody… and also, it's none of their business'
Russell Mael on releasing the band's 28th album MAD!, their spat with Morrissey, their 1979 record that became a blueprint for electronic duos and their delight at having a growing army of younger fans
There is a song on Sparks' new album, MAD!, that sums up their ethos to a tee. The lyrics of Do Things My Own Way include 'Saw the Pope, told him, 'nope' / Gonna do things my own way' and 'My advice? No advice / Gonna do things my own way.'
Sparks, aka brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have been doing things their own way for over half a century. Their 28th album – there have been soundtracks, operas and even a collaborative supergroup project with Franz Ferdinand in there, too – comes hot on the heels of their last studio album The Girl is Crying in Her Latte, suggesting that the creative well is bottomless, 54 years since releasing their debut in 1971.
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Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Sparks on their enigmatic image: ‘There are no ghosts in the closet kept from everybody… and also, it's none of their business'
Russell Mael on releasing the band's 28th album MAD!, their spat with Morrissey, their 1979 record that became a blueprint for electronic duos and their delight at having a growing army of younger fans There is a song on Sparks' new album, MAD!, that sums up their ethos to a tee. The lyrics of Do Things My Own Way include 'Saw the Pope, told him, 'nope' / Gonna do things my own way' and 'My advice? No advice / Gonna do things my own way.' Sparks, aka brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have been doing things their own way for over half a century. Their 28th album – there have been soundtracks, operas and even a collaborative supergroup project with Franz Ferdinand in there, too – comes hot on the heels of their last studio album The Girl is Crying in Her Latte, suggesting that the creative well is bottomless, 54 years since releasing their debut in 1971.
Dublin Live
01-06-2025
- Dublin Live
Motley crew of Morrissey fans camp outside 3Arena ahead of Dublin gig
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A motley crew of Morrissey fans have camped outside the 3Arena for two nights to make sure they're front and centre for the enigmatic crooner's Dublin gig tonight. The former Smiths frontman has legions of devoted fans — and has since he partnered up with Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce, and Andy Rourke to form The Smiths in the early 1980s. After a successful few years together, the band split at the end of the decade, and Moz went solo. He is taking to the stage at the old Point Depot on Saturday night. And outside the arena, the pavement has been transformed into a vibrant camp by a devoted legion of followers. One of them is Chris Forrester, from Chorlton in Manchester, who has travelled across the Irish Sea to secure his coveted spot at the barrier. And for him and his fellow devotees, the two-day wait feels more like a pilgrimage. 'I travelled with my Welsh friend Sophie from Manchester Airport,' he explained. 'We got here on Thursday evening for a show on Saturday. "We've been scouting out the venue since we landed." The group gathered outside is truly global, with fans from London, Cardiff, Vienna, Barcelona, New York, Tokyo, and Chris' own Chorlton among their ranks. Chris told us how they have kept busy during the wait. He said: 'We're currently sat outside the venue dodging the rain, hiding red wine in Starbucks cups, talking about things we think are heady, and playing Dobble.' For Chris, Moz's pull is indescribable, but he does know he is proud to be present for a gig in his ancestral home - as Morrissey was born to Dublin emigrants in Manchester. 'I don't think I can explain what Morrissey means to me easily,' he admits. 'I'd need a psychoanalyst for that, to tell me why I sleep on the pavement to be at the front row. Morrissey has called us 'the art deco people', although I'd say I'm more of a brutalist. "I suppose I just want to be there. I feel lucky to be on the planet at the same time as Mozza and want to make the most of that. "It sounds lofty, I'm sure - but it's the only way I can describe it. Especially at a Dublin show, like a homecoming for the Irish son, and coming from Irish roots myself it feels special being here. "I think it's important to say how much we and I love M and how much he means to us." And the queue outside the 3Arena is a testament to Morrissey's enduring appeal. 'The multi-generational fan pool shows his appeal to people of all ages,' Chris added. 'We have fans here who saw him in The Smiths, and fans who are Gen Z.' This queuing is no anomaly, as similar scenes have unfolded at previous gigs. In 2022, the Manchester Evening News reported fans queuing for 24 hours outside Manchester's Apollo arena, braving the elements for a chance to be close to the stage. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
Irish Times
01-06-2025
- Irish Times
Morrissey at the 3Arena review: Singer folds in four Smiths songs over chimeric evening
Morrissey 3Arena ★★★★★ 'This is not an hallucination,' Morrissey tells us, in case we were wondering, and yet tonight does seem strangely chimeric. In modern music, Morrissey remains something of an anomaly, perhaps because he remains so firmly himself; 'in my own strange way, I've always been true to you' he sings on the brilliant Speedway, backed by a band comprising Juan Galeano, Jesse Tobias, Camila Grey, Matthew Walker and Carmen Vandenberg. While Morrissey doesn't completely refuse the past (he folds in four Smiths songs), he is more interested in using it for inspiration and amplification, including visuals that survey some of his perennial obsessions: James Baldwin, Edna O'Brien, Brendan Behan, Dionne Warwick, David Bowie and Oscar Wilde. READ MORE And obsession is the touchstone for Morrissey, something he partly details in Rebels Without Applause ('the gangs all gone, and I smoulder on'), recasting himself again and again as the outlier and last man standing. His voice has always somehow belonged to another time. On One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell, he is the 'savage beast' with 'nothing to sell', and yet his voice, still so majestic, manages to 'sell' us, sweeping us up. On something like the stirring Life is a Pigsty, it is genuinely transporting, where he makes a song about 'brand new broken fortunes'. The reason Morrissey continues to intrigue is perhaps because he speaks to the disenchanted, tracing a thread from adolescence, with its heady sense of gilded possibilities to the often jarring realities of the world that is to come. And at the heart of his work is a sense of high idealism in conflict with crushing disappointment, from Best Friend on the Payroll to I Wish You Lonely. Morrissey's most affecting songs are steeped in a kind of faded romanticism, like the melancholy Everyday is like Sunday and the swooning I Know It's Over, with an accompanying image of Morrissey's late mother, deepening the impact. There is wry humour too, when Morrissey sings 'stab me in your own time' on Scandinavia, he tells us that 'some of these songs are tongue-in-cheek, but that's not one of them', before rampaging through Sure Enough, the Telephone Rings and its transactional tales. There is a swaggering menace to something like I Will See You in Far Off Places, which resembles a kind of warning bell. While many of his songs contain that sense of panic, he leavens some that convey uneasy resignation. This happens with the first of his two encore songs: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, which has evolved into a sort-of lullaby, or an alternative anthem for doomed youth (and beyond), to borrow from Wilfred Owen. It leaves the audience bloodied, but unbowed, as Morrissey takes us into the visceral gut-punch that is Irish Blood, English Heart, reminding us that he will die 'with both of my hands untied', as if we didn't know already.
