Ladies and gentleman, allow us to introduce The Great Impression, the second album by Sparkadia, a record of fierce intent and purpose yet tender in its delivery; an album that was very nearly called The Great Depression until salvation came in the relocation to a new country, new collaborators and a new outlook for Australia’s most critically lauded new band.

The Great Impression is an epic work of smart pop, at times tentative, at others assured and glacial. China sounds like a lost 80’s cinematic anthem, vast enough to soundtrack entire adolescences; the exquisite Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs is as complex and evocative as prime Kate Bush or Talk Talk while the majestic Ghost recalls the high drama and heartbreaking melodies of Scott Walker. Not bad for an album that may not have happened had it not been for the pugnacious fighting spirit of magnificently quiffed Sparkadia mainman Alex Burnett – a man for whom the phrase “have guitar will travel” could have been coined.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s look back for a moment, to 2008 when Sparkadia released Postcards, an assured debut packed with the sort of beguiling pop songs that other bands spend years trying to conjure. We could bang on about early influences like Burt Bacharach, The Police and Elvis Costello but none give an indication as to what Sparkadia sound like. Here simply, was a band who could break your heart and put it back together again, all within three minutes.

Recorded in London with producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Depeche Mode, The Horrors) at the helm, Postcards found instant favour in Australia where it charted, while singles such as Animals and Too Much To Do took up residency on radio stations such as triple j and BBC Radios 1 and 2, with DJs as varied as Zane Lowe and Terry Wogan falling for the sun‑drenched charm of a band for whom pop means more than over‑produced throwaway sounds. It also received acclaim in…читать далее ↓

Ladies and gentleman, allow us to introduce The Great Impression, the second album by Sparkadia, a record of fierce intent and purpose yet tender in its delivery; an album that was very nearly called The Great Depression until salvation came in the relocation to a new country, new collaborators and a new outlook for Australia’s most critically lauded new band.

The Great Impression is an epic work of smart pop, at times tentative, at others assured and glacial. China sounds like a lost 80’s cinematic anthem, vast enough to soundtrack entire adolescences; the exquisite Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs is as complex and evocative as prime Kate Bush or Talk Talk while the majestic Ghost recalls the high drama and heartbreaking melodies of Scott Walker. Not bad for an album that may not have happened had it not been for the pugnacious fighting spirit of magnificently quiffed Sparkadia mainman Alex Burnett – a man for whom the phrase “have guitar will travel” could have been coined.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s look back for a moment, to 2008 when Sparkadia released Postcards, an assured debut packed with the sort of beguiling pop songs that other bands spend years trying to conjure. We could bang on about early influences like Burt Bacharach, The Police and Elvis Costello but none give an indication as to what Sparkadia sound like. Here simply, was a band who could break your heart and put it back together again, all within three minutes.

Recorded in London with producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Depeche Mode, The Horrors) at the helm, Postcards found instant favour in Australia where it charted, while singles such as Animals and Too Much To Do took up residency on radio stations such as triple j and BBC Radios 1 and 2, with DJs as varied as Zane Lowe and Terry Wogan falling for the sun-drenched charm of a band for whom pop means more than over-produced throwaway sounds. It also received acclaim in Mojo, and was The Guardian’s single of the week while other singles such as Jealousy made it to critics’ end of year lists.

World tours beckoned – 200 shows in 18 months followed the release of Postcards, including slots at Glastonbury, V Festival and Big Day Out – and Sparkadia shared stages with other bands for whom pop music can also be cerebral and celebratory and where the song is always the star of the show – everyone from Elbow to Vampire Weekend, Pet Shop Boys to Hot Hot Heat and Jimmy Eat World.

So far, so amazing. But then four years into the Sydney–born band’s career – and just as Sparkadia were about to go nuclear – in May 2009 restless band members drifted away to travel, to study, to have babies. For mainman Alex Burnett, who formed the band as The Spark with drumming friend Dave Hall while at university in 2004, turning away from this self-created musical world was not an option. Because Sparkadia has always been more than a band; more than the sum of its parts. “Sparkadia is meant to take you somewhere,” says Alex. “It sounds like a place you would want to visit – not literally, but a headspace or an alternative world, like Avalon or Arcadia.”

“It was a very strange situation,” he continues. “We had toured for months and months and built things up but then suddenly everyone wanted to do different things. I wasn’t just losing band mates, I was losing the guys I lived with, partied with – my oldest friends.”

Such changes necessitated a recalibration of the senses for Alex, which he embraced by taking to the road (and skies and seas), as he went from Sydney to Darwin to Berlin to Stockholm and on to New York and Los Angeles before finally pitching up in sub-zero London, alone, unknown, no band and surviving on baked beans, but always with a burning desire to make the record of his life.

Inspiration and collaboration on this clutch of new songs – songs written in the back of cabs, on aeroplanes and in dodgy hotel rooms thousands of miles from anywhere called home – came from songwriter/producer Mark Tieku (Florence And The Machine, CocknBullKid), who Alex tracked down via MySpace. In spring 2010 the pair holed up for two months in a tiny studio in East London and created joyous second album The Great Impression, with Alex playing almost all the instruments, including the interesting usage of gongs, metal scaffolding and scrap metal that doubled up as cymbals.

“I like guitar music – rock ‘n’ roll – but I love pop melodies,” explains Alex. “And I especially like them to be odd. Oddness is important. I like music that sounds of the moment and which says you something about the person who made it, rather than music that has a big name producer stamp their sound on it. I love the sounds you can achieve from random objects combining with real instruments. I found these sounds to be potent and unique.”

Released in September 2010 aforementioned comeback single – and it is very much a comeback – Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs is already a hit in Australia. Over in the UK, where Sparkadia are an all-new, undiscovered entity, The Great Impression is creating waves in the music business thanks to songs that cover “break-ups, delusions of grandeur, perception and reality (or something a little more sexy…) the cause and effect of toying with people’s hearts, emotional breaking points…”

So now in 2011, Sparkadia is the name for a singular musical vision – just as, say, Nine Inch Nails or Bat For Lashes are bands based around individuals – with Alex name-checking Bowie and Kate Bush as examples of how it can be done. There have been recent tours. There will be more touring. There is a new line-up that features a combination of Australian and English musicians.

And more than anything, there is every reason to get very excited. In Sparkadia great things are afoot.

The Great Impression is released March 18, 2011 on Ivy League Records.

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