Sparks for o2 Institute in September
Sparks have announced new album, Hippopotamus, plus the European dates of The Hippopotamus Tour, Including a date at o2 Institute, Birmingham on Sunday September 24th. Tickets go on sale for the Fan Club on Wednesday 29th March, and are released for general on sale Friday 31st March
Musical mavericks Sparks – Californian brothers Ron and Russell Mael — will release their new studio album ‘Hippopotamus’ on September 8th 2017 on BMG, accompanied by the first European dates of The Hippopotamus Tour.
Recorded in Los Angeles, ‘Hippopotamus’ sees them take the pop form, shake it up, and create an album that is adventurous, fresh and idiosyncratically ‘Sparks’. Described as “the smartest, most consistently evolving band in the history of rock”, and internationally acclaimed as pop pioneers, Sparks’ music has always been innovative and instantly identifiable. The title track, first played on BBC Radio 6 Music, was released as a single at midnight Friday 24th March after the band performed it, as well as 3 other songs from the album, in their set at the 6 Music Festival in Glasgow (watch HERE)
Plus Sparks have shared a new video for title track
Sparks – Hippopotamus album tracklisting:
1. Probably Nothing
2. Missionary Position
3. Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)
4. Scandinavian Design
5. Giddy Giddy
6. What The Hell Is It This Time?
7. Unaware
8. Hippopotamus
9. Bummer
10. I Wish You Were Fun
11. So Tell Me Mrs. Lincoln Aside From That How Was The Play?
12. When You’re A French Director
13. The Amazing Mr. Repeat
14. A Little Bit Like Fun
15. Life With The Macbeths
They even have their own comic strip!
Having focused on writing and recording the two narrative projects (The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman & Annette) Sparks returned to the studio in 2016 to write “3 and 4 minute pop songs”. They subsequently revealed the album title as Hippopotamus, whilst announcing they would be performing at the BBC 6 Music Festival 2017 in Glasgow . The band line up for the BBC 6 Music Festival included previous Sparks drummer Steve Nistor, Zach Dawes and Tyler Parkford of Mini Mansions, Michael Shuman of Mini Mansions and Queens Of The Stone Age, and Evan Weiss of Junk.
You can still hear the interview with BBC 6 Music’s Radcliffe and Maconie HERE