Graham Clark, Music Features Writer
Albums: The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte; Veronica Lake; Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is; Escalator; The Mona Lisa's Packing, Leaving Late Tonight; You Were Meant For Me; Not That Well-Defined; We Go Dancing; When You Leave; Take Me For A Ride; It's Sunny Today; A Love Story; It Doesn't Have To Be That Way; Gee, That Was Fun.
(Island Records)Catalogue Number: 5504002
After a career that has lasted nearly fifty years Sparks return with their 26th album - and it is yet another musical masterpiece from the esteemed duo.
Melodies that weave their way into your subconscious are ever present.
Nothing Is Good As They Say It Is being a good case in point, though with Sparks in control things are even better than ever.
The musical account of the American film actress Veronica Lake, and her peek-a-boo hairstyle, once again displays Sparks’ ceaseless ability to craft complete, intricately detailed stories within perfect three-minute pop gems.
We Go Dancing is both haunting and menacing as Russell Mael weaves his vocals around a military style beat that has suspense and intrigue.
The tempo slows on
It’s Sunny Today as violins and strings give the song a melancholy feel despite the sun shining.
As the album concludes with
Gee, That Was Fun the track could be their farewell song “Being with you all this time, Gee that was fun” are the last words you will hear on the album. Let’s not hope that this is the last we will hear from Russell and his brother Ron.
Overall, this is an album that is characteristically timeless and unequivocally modern,
The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte once again affirms that, Sparks remain inimitable, ingenious and, as ever, utterly one of a kind.