3 days ago
- Entertainment
- 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.
