If 2016’s Light Upon the Lake is set to be Whitney’s high-water mark, then they could do a lot worse. Sure, it will always be the breakthrough debut, and Forever Turned Around will probably always be seen as the sophomore stumble, even if it’s better than you remember, but Spark doesn’t do anything to sway those ingrown myths. In fact, it follows the standard formula of the third record with the envelope-pushing, attempt to break away from expectations.
In that sense, Spark is a success, it is different than either of Whitney’s previous albums and certainly different than anything they released with Smith Westerns before that. That’s clear when the R&B beat kicks in and especially from Julien Ehrlich’s sleepy, soul-inspired vocals on the opener “Nothing Remains”. The track has some bite to it though, and the juxtaposition of energy and styles, especially with the addition of the subtle synth line and great slide guitar makes for something inspired. Similarly, “Blue”, takes some jaunty keys that could have fit right in on the band’s first album and places a catchy out-of-place drum beat underneath, to give the track a woozy out-of-time feel. On top of that, we get synthy breaks and some stellar horns that both reveal and conceal themselves simultaneously.
There will surely be people who favor Spark to other Whitney albums, and for good reason. For lack of a better word, it is adventurous and (importantly) without sacrificing the strength of the tracks themselves. Even more impressive, is that with all the risks the band takes here, the album is undeniably a Whitney record. Whether it be Ehrlich’s falsetto or Max Kakacek’s instrumentation, the aspects of the sound that fans are looking for are present, and in that sense, the record can flex and feel its way around without any risk of alienation.
Take “Never Crossed My Mind” with its drum machine and heavily layered instrumentation. Not only does the vibraphone peak through and create a nice cherry on top of the disparate elements, but the band finds a way to meld these aspects despite how strange their combination, especially amongst Whitney’s sound, seems on paper. That is the mark of a good artist, and one that has a lot of room to continue growing, Spark just proves that they’re willing to.
