Sparks will release their 26th album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, on May 26, 2023, via Island records, the label that released their their seminal record Kimono My House in 1974. To coincide with the album release Sparks will take to the road for a world tour that will include 2 sold out headline shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall and, in America, the soon-to-be-announced largest headline show of the band’s career.

Most people, with even a passing acquaintance with Sparks, will know the basics by now. How Californian brothers Ron and Russell Mael, both students at UCLA, began making music together in the late Sixties, originally under the name Halfnelson. How theirTop Of The Popsdebut with “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us” stunned a generation and nearly scored them a UK No.1. How their career moved through many phases, including (but not limited to) art rock, glam, big band swing, electro-disco, new wave and synthpop, taking in collaborations with Todd Rundgren, Les Rita Mitsouko, Tony Visconti, Franz Ferdinand and Giorgio Moroder.

How keyboardist and songwriter Ron’s intricate staccato arrangements combine with the acrobatic vocals in which Russell delivers his brother’s always-on-point lyrics. How Ron’s stillness and stern, intimidating visage contrasts onstage with Russell’s hyperactivity. How their popularity has spiked unpredictably in different territories at different times: Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Japan, and their homeland the United States. And how the influence of “the greatest band you’ve never heard of”, or “your favourite band’s favourite band”, has been recognised by successive generations of artists from Joy Division to Duran Duran to Depeche Mode to Bjork to Beck to The Darkness and beyond.Their influence on music cannot be overstated, as Jack Antonoff recently declared “all pop music is re-arranged Sparks”.

Sparks’ 2021 film musical Annette, directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, which almost swept the board in France at that year’s César and Lumières Awards with eight wins and seven nominations across the two ceremonies, including the César for Best Original Music, and also fared well elsewhere, with a Golden Globes nomination for Cotillard, and ‘So May We Start’ shortlisted for Best Original Song at the Oscars. Focus Features have recently announced the studio is developingX-Cruciora musical epic written by Ron and Russell.

May 29
London, UK
Royal Albert Hall

May 30
London, UK
Royal Albert Hall

Jun 1
OUTDOOR
Barcelona, Spain
Primavera Sound Festival

Jun7
OUTDOOR
Porto, Portugal
NOS Primavera Sound

June 8
Arganda del Rey, Spain
Primavera Sound Festival