The Californian duo released their 26th studio album, “The Girl is Crying in her Latte”, on May 26 and offered Cate Blanchett in a clip.
Cate Blanchett in a music video, in a track titled Veronica Lake named after a Hollywood star: the 7th art is never far from the Sparks, American pop goldsmiths. Yes, it is the Australian-American actress who sways her hips, in a canary yellow suit, headphones on her ears, in the foreground in the video of The girl is crying in her latte.
It is the first single released and the title track from the 26th disc. Veronica Lake named after a Hollywood star, to be published on Friday, of the two brothers from Los Angeles, tireless after more than 50 years of career.
And it all started with a meeting in the dressing rooms at the Césars in early 2022, where the musical duo was present for Annette by Léos Carax, a film which won five trophies, including those for best director and best original music for the Sparks. Cate Blanchett received an honorary Caesar there.
“Someone knocks on the door, walks in, she looks like Cate Blanchett, introduces herself, it’s her (laughs), and she tells us she’s been a Sparks fan since she was a kid in Australia, she’s one of the best actresses of the world, we were so flattered”remembers for AFP Russell Mael, in an interview by videoconference.
part of mystery
“We kept in touch and for the first video of the album, we called her and said she could do whatever she wanted on this clip, anyway, we knew it would be great and , after three takes, it was done”continues the Sparks singer (his brother Ron writes the lyrics and composes on keyboards).
The actress, who made the cover of the magazine Time dedicated to women of the year, blended seamlessly into the quirky universe of these sparkling septuagenarians. In the background, we see Russell, sweater adorned with the word “beurre” in French, while Ron sports his favorite absent expression. Russell claims that Cate Blanchett liked the mystery part of this song on this “girl crying in her cafe latte” without knowing why.
Hollywood star of the 40s
When they were kids, their parents brought the future Sparks to the cinema, sometimes in the middle of a film, it was up to them to imagine the beginning. Hence this writing which encourages the listener to “give your impressions”, as Russell says. A song from this new disc, Veronica Lakebears the name of a Hollywood star with a meteoric career in the 1940s, before a tragic end.
Russell cites, among his favorite films of this iconic blonde, This gun for hire (“Hitman”), The blue Dahlia (“The blue dahlia”), but also I married a witch (“My wife is a witch”) which “proves that she was as comfortable in the dramatic as in the comic”.
About Hollywood’s Golden Age, another new song, Take me for a ridescrolls through the images of a thriller, with a fugitive named Johnny and a certain Laura driving a Chevy, a legendary American car produced in the 1950s.
new music movie
The Sparks are preparing a new musical film, of which they only leak the working title X Crucior. “We were so happy after Annettewhich took us to the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival, to the Césars, we wanted to continue”, is content to let go of Russell. A nice revenge because the 7th art was until then a source of disappointment. The Sparks should have played in a film by Jacques Tati and participated in the adaptation of a manga with Tim Burton. Two aborted projects.
France has a nice wink in store for them on June 13 for their concert in Paris at the Grand Rex, a concert hall but also a cinema with a grandiose Art Deco façade. “I looked on the internet, I can’t wait to be there”Russell breathes.
“The girl is crying in her latte” (Virgin Records/Universal). Released May 26.
In concert at the Paloma, Nîmes, on June 4, at the Espace Julien, Marseille, on the 5th, at the Grand Rex, Paris, on June 13.