Reviews: New Sparks album plus CBBC drama Silverpoint

 

Sparks- The Girl is Crying in her Latte (album 2023)  Sparks may have been around forever but that doesn’t mean they are trading on old glories like the handful of their contemporaries still out there. This is their twenty fifth studio album yet it sounds like the work of a vital, much younger group still pushing those envelopes around. People used to wonder why Sparks had never become mega successful but that has been to their advantage enabling both an independence and longevity other artists would love to achieve. They’ve had their moments in the commercial Sun of course- the imperial run of three albums in the 1970s, their dramatic move into dance music at the end of that decade, their groundbreaking `Lil Beethoven` album and more recently acclaim for recent albums, a documentary and a film. Yet Russell and Ron Mael, both in their seventies now, are not for dwelling on even the recent past and sure enough this new collection moves on from the richer sounds of 2020’s `A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip` being much more electronic and bleepy than you’d expect. On the other hand that is so them, shifting direction again.

In terms of subject matter few Sparks songs express conventional thoughts. Here for example we have `Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is` in which a twenty two hour old baby expresses a wish to go right back into the womb due to the state of the world it has already seen. The song is the closest on the album they get to that 70s sound they first became famous for and could be lifted from `Propaganda`.  `Not That Well Defined` sees the narrator passing judgement on someone who is like “a sketch where someone’s erased the lines” on a tune that appears to borrow a few notes from the Game of Thrones theme.  The title track references coffee shop culture –“so many people are crying in their latte” and introduces the album’s signature electronic wash, on `Veronica Lake` is makes up the entire backing track behind the song’s speedy word play.

“When You Leave` is probably the most amusing song in which people are waiting for a guest to leave “They’ll be breaking out the Courvoisier when you leave.” However we also hear that guest’s determination to stay “just to annoy them”. ``It Doesn’t Have to be That Way` may be a comment on their own individualistic career, “they always said you should stay between the lines, be easily defined, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Not everything Sparks do is simply arch and `Its Sunny Today` is not more or less than a rumination on people spending time together. `Gee, That was Fun` takes the opening few notes of `My Way` but opts for an opposite approach with the protagonist expressing the wish he could have given “better compliments” or taken “more dumb photographs” in a long list of things they wish they'd done differently. Its amusing but then you realise the past tense of the title and assume that these thoughts come after the other half’s death. That’s sort of sad really only Sparks don’t do sad as such.

The standouts on a very strong album for me are the more epic tracks. Riding on a fearsome drum riff and including unusual signatures, `The Mona Lisa’s Packing, Leaving Late Tonight` and feels like it has it origins in a Scottish tune. They often couch their songs in the jauntiest of rhythms and this is a great example. Presumably this is about the woman who was the subject for the Mona Lisa and seems to be a commentary on fame, “She might seem dispassionate, but that’s not true, she feels much the same as everyone.”

`We Go Dancing` is a biting observation on the way dictators delude their subjects in this case North Korea. Its staccato tempo mimics the breathless enthusiasm the people of that state have for their leader and interprets their military precision as dancing. “We have got the greatest DJ in the whole wide world, Kim Jung-on is what they call him.” Peppered with disruptive echoey horns it actually becomes quite disturbing as it surges on. Kim Jong-un won’t be bothered (he’ll be too busy inspecting something) but a tour of North Korea is certainly not on the cards!

Sparks are especially good at creating songs that you feel would make a film and are never restricted by sticking to what we might call pop or rock or dance. A good example of this is `Take Me For A Ride` told from the point of view of a fugitive who gets a lift. Musically it is orchestral and grand which along with the lyrics means you can almost see the scenes changing as the duo’s flight continues. The twist is that this is a couple who do this every Friday night to break the routine of ordinary life! One thing to remember about Sparks albums is that they take a while to percolate so don’t expect to be amazed on one listen, it will seep in

 

Silverpoint (CBBC 2022-23) A smart slice of fantasy for children that manages to use a plethora of sci-fi ideas but with a fresh eye. It’s initially set in an adventure camp in the woods where a group of kids find a metallic object buried in the ground. At first this unusual object is a source of curiosity and fun- items can float above it or be hurled up into the air. Once they discover it can actually transport objects and even people from one location to another matters turn a bit more serious. From then on the story twists around in several directions and while some of the ideas are not entirely without precedent, the production standards ensure it remains enjoyable and intriguing especially for its target audience. Thew series presents its tricks without pretention and I like the way the kids are accepting of much of what happens to them yet in a realistic manner.

The story keens close to the lives of the characters yet is more imaginative than many a coming of age story. If you read the plot on paper it might seem like it contains too many diverse elements but they all fits together really well. In particular the use of temporal paradoxes is achieved without the “aren’t I clever” writing you might see in a series like Doctor Who or Star Trek. The kids have to solve their dilemmas with logic rather than having gizmos to resort to.

The show harks back to the sort of fare regularly produced by both BBC and ITV in past decades and is aimed at younger teens. The peril is more than mild though explanations ensure danger is kept to a minimum replaced by the smooth flow of the story. Each episode is only about  22 minutes long so it’s an easy watch and you’ll want to keep following it to see what happens next.

Obviously it doesn’t have the budget of a larger show but in terms of setting and effects it punches well above its weight. The large ensemble cast are likeable enough and it’s pleasing to see the writers are not trying to pander to everything bang up to date which gives it a timeless quality. So mobile phones are mostly out, walkie talkies are in which along with a selection of outdoor excursions gives it the sense of The Goonies. 

The series was shot in County Antrim in Northern Ireland and produced by Zodiak Kids and CBBC and was nominated for two children’s Baftas last year. Its creators are Lee Walters and Steven Andrew, the latter having a lot of experience in children’s drama going all the way back to Grange Hill. In an interview with Sci Fi Bulletin, he credited the inspiration for the idea being a place he found was a student called the Gravity Hill “where you drive your car to the bottom of this hill, switch off your engine and the car will just slowly roll up the hill”  

At the end of the first season there’s a very impressive plot turn which suggests the second will be a different set up and that’s not all either- there’s a next level twist at the end of the first episode of the second season. I think the kids who this aimed at are being spoiled!

The second season, which was released on 17 May, is more overtly sci-fi with hints of Stranger Things, twists galore and a skill with cliffhangers that other series might admire. This time the kids find themselves one of a group of four gangs who have been chosen to play a series of games with the winners “saving the Earth”, a sort of high stakes Crystal Maze!  The writers manage to use this somewhat nebulous plot to create all sorts of trickery and deception with ideas flowing like crazy each episode. Are they even on Earth? Can they trust each other? How come they can communicate telepathically? Are they in a spaceship? Meanwhile in the outside world their friend Bea is trying to track them down. Also developing through the narrative are broader connections between the seemingly disparate groups suggesting some larger conspiracy.

The series is not afraid to leave the main quartet to show other events  This means the group we’ve spent the first season with get a bit less to do and are not always the focus but even so it opens up the vista considerably. Also, unlike many attempts at this sort of thing (every sci-f I or fantasy series has a `challenge` or `games` for its heroes to endure) the problems are intriguing relying as much pn brain as brawn. One, on a beach, works really well but the really brilliant twist arrives at the end of episode seven which seems so bonkers you wonder where the series can go next.

It seems like a development that makes sense given the adult’s behaviour so for - the subterfuge, secrecy and over bearing behaviour. Yet could there be more to it? You’ll notice I’m not revealing key plot points because the fun of this show is watching each develop and going “What…..!”

Though this is a drama made for kids it displays a sophistication that many adult fantasy series fail to reach. It uses perception to continually wrong foot the viewer and also the characters yet always with a satisfactory resolution. If it had been screened back in the day, episodically, week by week it would be an absolute talking point not just in the playground but at home too!

The ending is a satisfactory way of rounding up a knotty story wrapped up in some excellent direction that shows off the Northern Ireland locations. Not sure if there’  third season on the way but there are twenty six absorbing episodes available on the iPlayer that will appeal to viewers far wider than the age range its aimed at.