Hello Young Lovers

Hello Young Lovers is the 20th album from cult duo Sparks

Sparks was a vehicle for the skewed pop smarts and wise guy wordplay of the Mael brothers, Los Angeles natives who spent their childhood modeling young men's apparel for mail-order catalogs. For many years Sparks remained the role model for every oddball pop duo (Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, etc) and have mapped their own genre in the gulf between Russell Mael (voice, shaggy hair, energy) and Ron Mael (keyboards, piercing stare, Hitler moustache). Eccentric American brothers burst onto the UK pop scene in 1974 with the weird but wonderful and unforgettable classic This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us. Their witty and ever-changing musical styles have pushed the boundaries of popular music to their limits. Both now into their 50’s, the duo is clearly on a mission to impress a new audience. Following fast on the heels of 2004's Lil’ Beethoven, comes Hello Young Lovers. This dramatic collection is the 20th album from cult duo. Sparks worked on Hello Young Lovers in a limitless vacuum for the best part of 18 months. The only inspiration taken from any current music was the provocation to go as far as possible in the opposite direction. When writing and recording Lil’ Beethoven, Sparks broke the rules. In creating Hello Young Lovers the rulebook was thrown away entirely.

Sparks have delivered an awesome piece of music

Those unfamiliar with Sparks should be aware this disc may be categorized as rock, but it is unlike anything else you've ever heard. Imagine Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody with the classical strings, dramatic bassline and operatic vocals – and then multiply that tenfold. Hello Young Lovers is set to raise some eyebrows. Sparks have delivered an awesome piece of music – how it will be received by the general public is another matter. There isn’t an out-and-out pop song in sight. Nevertheless, Hello Young Lovers breaks new ground, in the Rufus Wainwright mould, combining classical and opera influences. Probably, the best track on this album is Waterproof, which is a homage to Kimono My House. The single, Perfume, sublimely lists 30 girls' names (and their scents) against an excitable electro pulse. But otherwise Rock, Rock, Rock explains Sparks’ reluctance to observe pop's more worn-out conventions. Instead, we get the hilariously clever (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country, which fuses romantic fumbling with US foreign policy, and the operatic metal subversion of Dick Around. There’s a plethora of playful lyrics, lashings of strings (presumably via synths), simple guitar riffs and plenty of atmosphere on Hello Young Lovers.

Hello Young Lovers is two steps beyond Lil’ Beethoven

Sparks are one of the few original pop bands around. Sparks have always dared to be different, and its off-kilter charms are on full display on its new album, Hello Young Lovers. Brothers remains resolutely unfashionable, and punk-like in their refusal to conform to fickle musical fads, but their influence on contemporary bands, from Scissor Sisters to El Presidente, is obvious. Fans of bizarre Sparks classics like The Number One Song in Heaven and This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us should enjoy the new release. Hello Young Lovers finds Sparks as innovative as ever, mashing up opera, classical and electronics to sound quaint, futuristic, winningly dumb and hugely intelligent at the same time. The Mael brothers prove that they are indeed the maestros of music with moments of sheer beauty, frenzy, dissonance, harmony and pure genius! It doesn't take long to love this album. Songs are magnificent and you don't miss the old Sparks, they are here with new melodies and new sounds. Hello Young Lovers is two steps beyond Lil’ Beethoven. You can find the same ironic mood as ever, but in 2006 the whole thing is so unpredictably delicious. A brilliant return to form by the most enigmatic duo in rock’n’roll!