May 01, 2025 Photography by Munachi Osegbu
Sparks (brothers Ron and Russell Mael) are releasing a new album, MAD!, on May 23 via Transgressive. Now they have shared the album’s fourth single, “My Devotion.” Watch the lyric video below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.
A press release explains the theme of the new single: “The song takes a wry and timely look at performative adoration in the era of hyper-nationalism and obsessive fandom, whether to a nation, religion, brand (‘Your country, god or flag… Your Harley, or your Jag’) or even a sports team (‘Maybe you love football, though I’m puzzled why you would…’).”
A previous press release described the sound of MAD! in greater detail: “Musically there are nods to New Wave, synthpop, art rock, and electronic opera—all genres Sparks had hands in pioneering, or straight-up invented. When you hear echoes of other artists, from Air to Shostakovich, you remind yourself that they’re all people who Sparks influenced in the first place. (Well, maybe not Shostakovich.) Ultimately, however, MAD! is a modern record, which belongs in, and speaks to, the modern world.”
Previously Sparks shared the album’s first single “Do Things My Own Way,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then its second single, “JanSport Backpack,” also made its way onto our Songs of the Week. The album’s third single, “Drowned in a Sea of Tears,” also landed on Songs of the Week.
The band’s last album was 2023’s The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, which was the band’s first album on Island Records in 47 years. The band released several albums on the label in the 1970s, including 1974’s classic Kimono My House. The album’s title track, “The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte,” was accompanied via a video for the song starring none other than Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett.
In 2021, Edgar Wright directed an acclaimed documentary on the band, The Sparks Brothers. In 2021, they also co-wrote the musical film, Annette, with director Leos Carax and also did all the music for it. In 2022, they announced a reissue series.
In our previous print issue (Issue 73) we interviewed Sparks about the 50th anniversary of Kimono My House. Read the article here.
Sparks Tour Dates:
Sun. June 8 – Kyoto, JP @ ROHM Theatre
Tue. June 10 – Osaka, JP @ Zepp Namba
Thu. June 12 – Fri. June 13 – Tokyo, JP @ EX Theater
Wed. June 18 – Thu. June 19 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
Sat. June 21 – Sun. June 22 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
Tue. June 24 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall
Thu. June 26 – Haarlem, NL @ PHIL Haarlem
Sat. June 28 – Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal
Mon. June 30 – Paris, FR @ La Salle Pleyel
Tue. July 1 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall (venue upscale)
Thu. July 3 – Copenhagen, DK @ The Koncerthuset
Fri. July 4 – Stockholm, SE @ Grona Lund Tivoli
Sun. July 6 – Berlin, DE @ Uber Eats
Tue. July 8 – Milan, IT @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Sat. July 12 – Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK
Tue. July 15 – Dublin, IE @ National Stadium
Wed. July 16 – Dublin, IE @ National Stadium
Fri. July 18 – Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh Playhouse
Sat. July 19 – Wolverhampton, UK @ The Halls
Fri. Sept. 5 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
Mon. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Keswick Theatre
Tue. Sept. 9 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
Thu. Sept. 11 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center
Fri. Sept. 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
Sun. Sept. 14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre
Mon. Sept. 15 – Cleveland, OH @ TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic
Wed. Sept. 17 – Toronto, On @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sat. Sept. 20 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater
Tue. Sept. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
Wed. Sept. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
Fri. Sept. 26 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Sat. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Theatre
Mon. Sept. 29 – El Cajon, CA @ The Magnolia
Tue. Sept. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
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Feb 28, 2025 Issue #74 – The Protest Issue with Kathleen Hanna and Bartees Strange
