A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

by Sparks

Overview

"Our inconsistency is our consistency/our insincerity is our sincerity," Russel Mael sings at one point on A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. It's a sentiment that could pass for Sparks' manifesto: Over the years, fans have come to expect dizzyingly witty lyrics and dazzling, ever-changing sonics from the Mael brothers. Their 24th album offers plenty of both, as well as a more pointed outlook and a slightly more down-to-earth sound than the duo's last outing, 2017's Hippopotamus. Ron and Russel Mael give these songs about misfits, outliers, and disasters a driving urgency, whether on "Sainthood Is Not in Your Future"'s sprightly tale of betrayal or the darkly cosmic "Nothing Travels Faster Than the Speed of Light," which provides a great showcase for Ron Mael's formidable keyboard skills. Similarly, stomping synth pop hits home the message of "iPhone," where the Maels imagine technology aided lack of communication stretching back to the Garden of Eve and sum up their frustration on the earworm chorus "put your fucking iPhone down and listen to me!" Fortunately, impending doom brings out the best in Sparks' music, and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip's most trenchant songs are among its brightest highlights. On "I'm Toast," the grinding synths and guitars build as their fortunes -- and those of "Empty nesters/Bad investors/Lovers who've been wronged" -- sink lower and lower. With its grand sound and deprecating words, "Self-Effacing" is an instant-classic Sparks song that revives the chugging new wave the Maels reprised most recently on their Franz Ferdinand collaboration FFS, while "Left Out in the Cold"'s deep freeze reaffirms that synth pop will always be one of their greatest strengths. Elsewhere, Sparks balance A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip's sketches of failure and disappointment with just the right amount of giddy escapism; it's easy to imagine an intricately choreographed musical number involving Toros and John Deeres set to "Lawnmower"'s loopy suburban fantasia. "Stravinsky's Only Hit," which boasts a quintessentially Sparks song title along with its bombastic symphonic pop, is another triumph of the Maels' wit and craft. The duo also leave a little hope in the Pandora's box of A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, as well as some genuine emotion. On the poignant ecological plea "Please Don't Fuck Up My World," they manage to use a children's choir to non-cloying effect, and on "All That," they sing the praises of a long-running relationship's ups and downs with the sincerity only an act with as many decades behind them as they have could muster. Here and throughout A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks. ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	09/18/2020
Label:	Bmg
UPC:	4050538600810
Rank:	52733

Tracks

Disc 1

1. All That
2. I'm Toast
3. Lawnmower
4. Sainthood Is Not In Your Future
5. Pacific Standard Time
6. Stravinsky's Only Hit
7. Left Out In The Cold

Disc 2

8. Self-Effacing
9. One For The Ages
10. Onomato Pia
11. iPhone
12. The Existential Threat
13. Nothing Travel Faster Than The Speed Of Light
14. Please Don't Fuck Up My World

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sparks   Primary Artist
Ryan Parrish   Saxophone
Russell Mael   Vocals
Ron Mael   Keyboards
Patrick Kelly   Guitar (Bass)
Steve Nistor   Drums
Evan Weiss   Guitar
Alex Casnoff   Keyboards
Eli Pearl   Guitar
Coldwater Canyon Youth Choir   Choir/Chorus

Technical Credits

Bill Inglot   Engineer
Russell Mael   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Ron Mael   Composer,Producer
Dave Schultz   Engineer