If you're into your new wave and left-field 80s pop you will no doubt have heard of the unique and brilliant duo, Sparks. Famous for camp and often operatic hits such as their debut "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us", it was perhaps not a total surprise to hear that their newest project is a Musical with a typically eccentric concept: An imaginary event in the life of Swedish director par excellence Ingmar Bergman.
The subject matter is perhaps not to everyone's tastes (it hardly screams chart success!) but it was really encouraging to see some pop veterans try something new, and even more encouraging that it should be supported by national radio, which is something that Sparks were very keen to remark upon in the question and answer session that immediately followed the playing of the piece. When asked why they had not plumped for the traditional pop album format, frontman Russel Mael (the younger of the two Sparks brothers) explained that he believed the whole approach to pop music was "broken" and that there no longer seemed to be any way of surprising people with the verse-chorus-verse-chorus, ten-songs-on-an-album format that people have become so used to.
So were Sparks themselves able to surprise an audience? In many ways the music was what we have come to expect from this enigmatic duo, but this is hardly something to bemoan. There was plenty of melodrama to it - staying just the right side of camp - and a vast musical palette, veering from the lushly orchestral to the electronic with some occasional hard rock thrown in for good measure.
"The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman" shows Sparks on top form. Still taking risks and showing new ways forward in pop music. Like Bergman in their own musical, Sparks, it seems, are no sell-outs.
The opening track from the musical can be heard on their myspace.
John Napier
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