2020 was feasibly setting up to be the year that Sparks, the 50 years plus Los Angeles based art-pop brother duo was set to break completely out of their “cult band” status and show the rest of the world just how hip and influential they really are.
With yet another album finished, a movie score currently in production called Annette starring a few of Hollywood’s biggest A-listers, along with a full-on theatrical length documentary directed by well-known English auteur and Sparks fanatic Edgar Wright; brothers Ron and Russell Mael were about to go “Full Hollywood”. So with their 24th studio album A Steady, Drip, Drip, Drip, Sparks have made their most creatively attuned album of the last quarter-century.
Containing another stellar collection of Baroque pop songs and intermixing those piano standards and dancefloor beats that have kept Sparks fandom continually tuned in. A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip opens strong with “All That”, yet another tune about what appears to be about failed romantic relationships, a theme running rampant throughout their long-running cannon of underground pop masterpieces. Russell sings his big brother’s words with “feeling’ and “fervor”, playing the role of a man who is in awe yet regularly feels inadequate.
That feeling of inadequacy carries over to“I’m Toast”, a punchy tune with a driving beat that feels almost desperate and tense. In the first stanza, Russell alludes to falling to his death, of course in a very tongue-in-cheek manner that only Ron Mael can articulate on pen and paper. Then, the rest of the song dissipates into scenes of our protagonist wanting to disappear, ending with a plead to his virtual assistant “Alexa, get me out of here”.
The most blatant attempt to prove that the brothers prefer being on the soft side of music history is on full display with “Self-Effacing”, the lead-off single and an absolute anthem for the “everyman.” It doesn’t hurt that the song itself is a scorcher and actually invokes a feeling of empowerment; it’s a classic lyrical “bait and switch” that Sparks has worked to perfection.
There are a few songs on this album that seem to go places that Sparks have not ventured often. With “Pacific Standard Time” one can imagine Ron sitting out on his front porch late one late afternoon just breathing in and enjoying his immediate surroundings. It plays less like a love letter and more like a meditation on his ultra-familiar surroundings, The Palisades, north of Santa Monica.
“One for the Ages’, serves as a great dance tune highlighted with Sparks’ proprietary flair utilizing Russell’s finely tuned falsetto. “Ages” declares that they are still creating music at the absolute top of their game, and although they downplay their gifts, they know it and want the world to know they belong. Lyrically, It plays out like an annotated history of Sparks, always under-appreciated but will stand on its own someday.
The biggest surprise on this album is the closing track “Please Don’t Fuck Up My World”, a song that was released right before Christmas and is a singular moment in Sparks history. They have been adept at avoiding getting overtly political and have never been accused of being a “message” band. This song is a direct message to everyone that they care deeply about the world that they inhabit. It is a soft, beautiful, and downright touching song that acts like a plea for the world at large to come together and consider changing for the better. “Please Dont” may be the most “important song Ron has written up till now.
The Mael brothers have been waiting patiently for the world to catch up to them, but A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip signifies another bold creative peak moment for Sparks. Let’s all rejoice.
