| “These songs are as wonderfully wild, fractured, rambunctious, jittery, and above all melodic as the best in the band’s bulging catalog.” – American Songwriter (4/5 stars)
“A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip follows Sparks’ characteristic diversity,
with plenty of theatrically styled camp.” – Billboard
“After nearly 50 years and over two dozen albums, Sparks continue their reign of resonantly quirky art pop-rock delights on A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip.” – Pop Matters
“No band should by rights sound as sharp, melodic and funny more than 50 years into their career. But Sparks are no ordinary band.” – Q
Groundbreaking pop icons Sparks – Los Angeles-based brothers Ron and Russell Mael – have announced today’s release of “Lawnmower,” the latest song release from their upcoming 24th studio album, A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP. “Lawnmower” is available now via BMG at all DSPs and streaming services. The video will premiere on YouTube at Noon today (May 14). A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP arrives at all digital platforms tomorrow, Friday, May 15; the album’s physical release – including CD, vinyl, and cassette – is set for Friday, July 3. Billboard premiered “Lawnmower” with a Russell Mael Q&A yesterday.
LISTEN TO “LAWNMOWER”
WATCH “LAWNMOWER”
A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP is still available for pre-order, with all pre-orders joined by an “instant grat” download of “Lawnmower,” as well as the previous track releases, “One For The Ages,” “I’m Toast,” “Self Effacing,” and “Please Don’t Fuck Up My World.” A number of formats are on offer, including CD, 2x heavyweight colored and picture disc vinyl, and cassette; limited exclusives include signed prints, deluxe CD book editions, and a very special Sparks beret. For complete details, please visit allsparks.com.
PRE-ORDER A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP
A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP has already been met by strong critical praise, with Pop Matters hailing the LP as “yet another remarkable testament to Sparks’ enduring appeal and quality…it’s another wildly thought-provoking, fun, and wholly distinctive venture.” A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP “fizzes with as much energy as any of their records,” declared Q, “being an effervescent brew of rock, electronica, and classical.” “Ron and Russell Mael’s world is as fabulously off-skew as ever,” wrote MOJO, “and, even better, wonderful melodies tumble out of the speakers.”
“There is surely not a pop duo of their vintage still releasing durable, endearing music,” wrote the Irish Times. “A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP adds to their catalogue yet another collection of watertight pop songs that manage the feat of sounding just how you want Sparks to sound while deviating ever so slightly from the familiar.” “They’ve done it again,” enthused Record Collector in a five-starred rave. “Art-pop’s greatest cottage industry continues with this new, splendid record.” “Sparks’ abiding gifts for pop melody, surreal humour and clever, quirky lyrics crafted with precision and attention to old-fashioned virtues of the songwriter’s craft – meter and scansion, rhyme and rhythm – remain not just undiminished but honed to a peak of perfection,” wrote Louder Than War. “With A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP, Sparks have drawn on the many styles and many great moments in a multi-faceted career that began in their native Los Angeles in 1967, while retaining the unique identity. Whatever style they embrace, and they have embraced most – pop, rock, New Wave, synth-pop, disco, dance, electro, orchestral, opera – they always remain ineffably, irrefutably, inescapably, undeniably Sparks.”
Ron and Russell Mael will join The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess for an extra special edition of #TimsTwitterListeningParty featuring A STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP on Wednesday, May 20 at 5:00 pm ET/2:00 pm PT. Fans are invited to follow @sparksofficial and @tim_burgess on Twitter for real time, live commentary on the album; to tweet, please use the hashtag #TimsTwitterListeningParty.
This year should also see the eagerly awaited premiere of the musical Annette, the first English-language film from groundbreaking French director Leos Carax (Holy Motors, Pola X), written by Ron and Russell Mael and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. In addition, director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver) will continue work on his as-yet-untitled Sparks documentary, a long-in-the-making feature-length film celebrating this singular band. |
