The inscrutable and enigmatic brothers Ron and Russell Mael return as the iconic Sparks with their new single ‘Drowned in A Sea of Tears’. The release precedes their new album ‘MAD!’ due out in May.
The track is poignantly beautiful with a motorik thrum and yearning vocals. Dappling instrumentation underlies the searing melodies, typically enigmatic and studied with the tradematl vocals.
The lyrics have a bleak romanticism:
We were ecstatic even though it would rain We were so frantic as we biked around Spain Were we romantic or just out for good times Two of a kind
Now I can see I was blind
Drowned in a sea of tears
Almost saved her, I was so very near Drowned in a sea of tears
Though I tried, I couldn’t ease all her fears
The falsettos and layered harmonies with an operatic timbre cannot be mistaken for any other artist. The melodrama of the accompanying video perfectly reflect the theatricality of Sparks:
‘Drowned In A Sea of Tears’ is out now and available to download and stream here.
‘MAD!’ is out on 23 May 2025 through Transgressive Records and available to pre-order here and through the link below.
Feature Photograph: Munachi Osegbu
