Sparks have shared their new single “Drowned in a Sea of Tears” from their upcoming album Mad!, which the Mael brothers will take on the road this fall on a North American tour.
The song and its corresponding Amber Navarro-directed video that documents Russell Mael’s narrator’s attempts to be “a savior” to a woman trying to pick herself up from emotional turmoil, captured in the visual when the protagonist nearly drowns in her own car as it fills with tears.
“We don’t usually get inspired by anything that’s happened in a relationship context, and it wasn’t inspired by any particular incident,” Ron Mael told NME of the single. “I hate to use the term ‘sincerity’, because we’re sincere about everything we write. But we wanted to write something from a more traditional feeling of what a pop song should be, lyrically. A few songs on this album were inspired by that.”
“Drowned in a Sea of Tears” is the third preview from Mad!, due out May 23 via Transgressive Records, following first single “Do Things My Own Way” and “JanSport Backpack.” Sparks also announced plans for a monthlong North American tour this September; check out the dates below.
It’s been a particularly prolific few years for the Mael brothers as — in addition to their steady stream of new albums; Mad! is their 26th studio LP — they also collaborated with director Leos Carax on the movie musical Annette and attempted to recount their own history in Edgar Wright’s The Sparks Brothers documentary.
According to the duo, the brothers will next return to the movie world with another musical directed by action film legend John Woo.
“After Annette, we wanted to do another movie musical that channels what we do, without it just being another Sparks album,” Russell Mael told NME. “John Woo said in an interview that he’d never done a musical, which we were astounded by. We’re fans of his, so about a year ago we approached him with our idea. He heard the whole two hours of what will be the film and said: ‘I love this, let’s do it’. We now have some great producers working on it and it’s hopefully going into production soon-ish.”
Sparks Tour Dates
September 5 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
September 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Keswick Theatre
September 9 – Washington, D.C. – Lincoln Theatre
September 11 – Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center
September 12 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre
September 14 – Columbus, OH – The Athenaeum Theatre
September 15 – Cleveland, OH – TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic
September 17 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
September 20 – St. Paul, MN – Fitzgerald Theater
September 23 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
September 24 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
September 26 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
September 27 – San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Theatre
September 29 – El Cajon, CA – The Magnolia
September 30 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
