Sparks share whimsical single ‘JanSport Backpack’ and reveal ‘MAD!’ album artwork, tracklist and release date

Sparks have shared the latest single from their upcoming album ‘MAD!’ in the form of ‘JanSport Backpack’ – check it out below.

The duo announced their 28th studio album last month and they have now confirmed that it will be released on May 23rd via Transgressive Records (pre-order/pre-save here). They had previously released the lead single ‘Do Things My Own Way’.

Now, they have given fans a second taste of the record with the typically whimsical and infectious ‘JanSport Backpack’, a bittersweet tale of a woman dealing with a relationship that is on the rocks. Watch the lyric video here and check out the album artwork below:

‘MAD!’ tracklist: 

1. ‘Do Things My Own Way’ 
2. ‘JanSport Backpack’ 
3. ‘Hit Me, Baby’ 
4. ‘Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab’ 
5. ‘My Devotion’ 
6. ‘Don’t Dog It’ 
7. ‘In Daylight’ 
8. ‘I-405 Rules’ 
9. ‘A Long Red Light’ 
10. ‘Drowned In A Sea Of Tears’ 
11. ‘A Little Bit Of Light Banter’ 
12. ‘Lord Have Mercy’

Sparks are also set to play across the UK, Europe and Japan this summer, which which will include two nights in London’s Eventim Apollo, two in Manchester’s O2 Apollo and one at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. Find the full list of shows here and any remaining tickets here.

‘MAD!’ is Sparks’ first album since 2023’s ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’, which NME awarded four stars, noting: “If you’re looking for a paramount example of Sparks’ ability to merge timeless pop, acerbic writing, and inventive orchestration into certifiable earworms, look no further than ‘Mona Lisa’s Packing Leaving Late Tonight’. In it, the brothers shape sounds around a literary tale that could stand alone, throwing voices back and forth like an additional instrument, allowing the song to move unabashedly in peculiar directions.”

“‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’ is a reminder that even now, Sparks are completely content with boldly going first, taking their music into ambitious territory no one else has been before, making it easier for other acts to (hopefully) follow suit.”

Sparks won the Best Music Film prize at the BandLab NME Awards in 2022 for the Edgar Wright-directed The Sparks Brothers. In an interview with NME that year, Ron Mael said, “Cinema has always been a part of us. The idea of exploding, having something grandiose and colourful and dramatic is something that really had an effect on us.”