New Artist Highlight: Sparky’s Magic Piano’s Musical Folks Artwork

Within the visible artwork world, the time period “folk art” refers to a kind of outsider artwork that’s often hand-crafted and serves a sensible goal, however doesn’t essentially seek advice from the mediumor style. Being fairly removed from something definitively “people” by way of music, London-based indie pop duo Sparky’s Magic Piano appear nonetheless a type of muiscal model of people artwork. From their quirky title to their eclectic fashion to the truth that their music is type of sewn collectively from house utilizing any and all accessible devices, has that type of household artwork undertaking vibe. Their second LP, By no means Twice the Similar Color, launched simply this previous Friday, September 9, present hand-crafted could be simply pretty much as good as something from the studio.

Everyone knows the story of Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell writing and recording Billie’s first album and all their prior singles within the again bed room of their childhood house, to not point out these days any digital producer is aware of that the following massive banger can come by way of somebody’s shitty laptop computer. High quality music virtually by no means requires massive studios and lavish tools anymore. That’s not fairly what we’re with Sparky’s Magic Piano. Whereas the work itself sounds fairly skilled, with good sound design, a touch of electronica and deceptively complicated composition, the fashion of the music itself conjures quaintness.

The primary fashion listeners will discover when entering into By no means Twice the Similar Color is a type of popified psychobilly/seashore rock, just like what was well-liked in each the UK and US across the late 80s/early 90s with intro tracks “Shiny Shiny Footwear” and “A Pair of Keys.” Followers of this type of pre-Oasis rock interval will catch lashings of R.E.M., The Pixies, The Cramps, Flaming Lips and even some early MGMT. There may be after all the plain correlation to 60s surf rock acts like The Beach Boys as nicely. The minimal guitar work from Oli Bartlett is defintiely extra of a 90s ilk, nonetheless, and compliments his spouse Marion Bartlett’s whispy, Angie Hart-from-Frente! or Leigh-Nash-of-Sixpence None the Richer-esque vocals. Extra trendy vocalist equivalents may be Birdy or Phoebe Bridgers, however these tracks are simply so spot-on 90s, one should pay homage to the whispy vocalists of the previous as nicely.

Additional on within the album, issues get a bit of deeper and heavier with tracks like “Colette” and “Hanging for the Bang.” With heavier, extra shoegaze-inspired guitars and sophisticated composition just like the jazz trumpet in “Colette” and the orchestral preparations in album nearer “As Good as It Will get” begin to actually take Sparky’s Magic Piano away from bed room band to taking part in round with synths to precise indie pop powerhouse.

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Stated synths do make a much bigger look within the second half of By no means Twice… as nicely, however in distinction to their first album Really feel the Beat and Do it Anyway! which launched virtually 15 years in the past, synths listed below are used for concord and as a part of the sound design somewhat than being entrance and heart. That concord is essential to the husband-and-wife duo’s richer sound, taking a web page from the mid-90s wall of sound bands like Lush, Sonic Youth and Catherine Wheel. In the meantime the synths, flute and glockenspiel, sure, you learn that proper: glockenspiel, are ornamentation that serve to modrenize the sound, a’la The Polyphonic Spree or Arcade Fire. When listening to tracks like “NTSC” or “Everlasting Pen,” in truth, it is going to be tough to imagine these massive sounds come from simply two folks.

So the place’s the piano in all this? Sparky’s Magic Piano might look like an odd title for a undertaking which accommodates just one tune with a recognizable analog piano monitor, in spite of everything. The band truly take their title from a series of stories put out on vinyl by Capitol Records in the 50s and 60s, that includes a personality created by the label named Sparky. There was additionally the 1987 animated film of the same name, voiced by well-known actors like Vincent Price and Cloris Leachman.

Trivia apart, the title Sparky’s Magic Piano is one other little bit of tongue-in-cheek people artwork for this duo whose present sound is something however folksy. Since, within the album’s title Oli and Marion declare that they’ll have By no means the Similar Color Twice, nobody can predict that the quirky couple will proceed with this actual sound, however with the wealthy and numerous fashion contained on this album and the evolution from their first work, it will be truthful to say it will probably solely get higher from right here. Let’s simply hope it doesn’t take one other decade and a half till album three is out.

By no means the Similar Color Twice is out now and could be streamed on Spotify or bought on Bandcamp.