John Robb catches up with the brothers Mael as they prepare for their 2025 world tour for their brilliant new album, MAD!
All tour dates here
Sparks burst into our teenage minds in 1974 with THAT famous Top of the Pops appearance. Since then they have thrilled, confounded and entertained us with their relentless creativity that has taken the iconic Sparks sound into many genres and styles of music but always somehow made them their own. Perhaps the most charming men in pop, they have shape-shifted but always been themselves. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the Mael brothers and scratch the surface of their brilliant awareness and the band that is so much more than just the music but an intricate and off-kilter world where humour and heartbreak somehow entwine into perfect wholes.
We talk about the new album and how they somehow remain one step ahead after 51 years and 28 albums. We also talk about how they must be the only brothers in pop who don’t fall out and have become different facets of the diamond. The interview also covers their writing process and how they work together to create their gems, with Ron’s eye for the idiosyncratic details of life and Russell’s vocal genius bringing his songs to life.
I also ask them about their creative process, the new album and how they stay engaged with pop culture and how they thread humour into pathis and their eye for filmic detiual and yet how they have retained their mystique and how the recent documentary on the band left you knowing less about them at the end of the film!
As engaging as ever, they retain the glorious mystique that is crucial in pop, and the new album is as great as anything in their long and winding career.
Sparks : The John Robb interview
