Sparks share new single from upcoming album
By Dan Biggane | February 25, 2025
Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks share new single from upcoming album, MAD!, set for release in May.
JanSport Backpack, is the second track from the new album, which will be released on 23 May via Transgressive Records.
Ever the masters of the musical vignette, JanSport Backpack is a bittersweet pop song that portrays a fading love in Sparks’ inimitable fashion, with the backpack existing as a sad reminder of a relationship on the rocks.
Listen below:
Modern Record
MAD!, the band’s 28th studio album, finds the art-pop duo examining cultural phenomena such as branded backpacks, tattoos, performative devotion (whether to a God, a lover, a celebrity or a sports team), the hegemony of banter, and the rise of influencers. The satire is never on-the-nose, always retaining enough ambiguity for the listener to fill in the blanks. And the exquisitely unusual lexicon and cultural references leap out on every listen.
Musically there are nods to New Wave, Synth-pop, Art Rock and Electronic Opera – all genres Sparks had hands in pioneering, or straight-up invented. Ultimately, however, MAD! is a modern record, which belongs in, and speaks to, the modern world.
The album opens with the song Do Things My Own Way, a piece of typically forward-facing progressive pop which was the album’s lead single. But it also functions as something of a manifesto for the Maels themselves. Because Sparks are a band who have always, always done things their own way.
MAD! Tracklisting
Do Things My Own Way
JanSport Backpack
Hit Me, Baby
Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab
My Devotion
Don’t Dog It
In Daylight
I-405 Rules
A Long Red Light
Drowned In A Sea Of Tears
A Little Bit Of Light Banter
Lord Have Mercy
MAD! physical formats include: CD, Cassette, Black vinyl LP, Lenticular gatefold sleeve with blue vinyl LP and Deluxe triple gatefold edition with red vinyl LP and CD (exclusive to store.allsparks.com)
After seven decades making music together Sparks continue to break new ground. On their 2025 tour, the first leg will begin on 8 June in Japan and end on 8 July in Italy.
Although Russell performed in Italy once as part of a Sgt Pepper anniversary concert and both brothers played there with FFS, this will be the first-ever Italian Sparks gig. The tour is already the band’s fastest selling to date – with more international dates to be announced soon due to demand.
SPARKS MAD! UK TOUR DATES:
June 2025
18 – Eventim Apollo, London
19 – Eventim Apollo, London
21 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
22 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
24 – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
A full list of dates and tickets are available here.
MAD! is released on 23 May and is available for preorder now, click here.
Read More: Top 20 Comeback Singles
