Since the late 2010s, Sparks have been on an upswing. With 2017s Hippopotamus and 2020s A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip in particular, they proved their hooks and lyrics were as sharp as ever, and with the 2021 releases of Edgar Wrights documentary The Sparks Brothers and Annette, the award-winning film Ron and Russell Mael made with director Leos Carax, this renewed attention reached a crescendo. That these films brought the long-standing, singular brilliance of Sparks music to a wider audience is noteworthy, especially since theres something distinctly cinematic about the sounds and storytelling of The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte. The respect for movie magic the Mael brothers have had since growing up in Los Angeles can be felt throughout: "The Mona Lisas Packing, Leaving Late" surrounds its tale of La Gioconda -- one of several mysterious women with hidden depths of feeling on Latte -- with layers of brass, guitars, and vocals arranged with the flash of a Busby Berkeley musical number. "You Were Meant for Me" is a buzzy, synth pop rom-com that hinges on a sweater getting caught on a shopping cart, and the standout "Take Me for a Ride" is a symphonic rock thriller that even offers a shocking twist near the end. The album harks back to A Steady Drip, Drip, Drips trenchant social commentary with "The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte," which ponders the mysteries of everyday suffering in a breezy yet deep fashion thats quintessentially Sparks. More often, though, the Mael brothers address the human condition in more timeless terms -- on the sprightly power pop of "Nothing Is as Good as They Say It Is," a newborn baby wants to go back to the womb, or at least to the South of France -- or with a fascinatingly anachronistic mix of sounds, slang, and pop culture references. Another highlight, "Veronica Lake," uses rushing electronics to evoke a relentless assembly line as it muses on how the star sacrificed her famous peekaboo hairdo to protect the women sporting similar styles while working in World War II factories. On "We Go Dancing," squalling brass and Russell Maels mannered vocals paint a picture of powdered wig-sporting aristocrats cutting a rug to the sounds of a DJ who outshines Skrillex or Diplo. The fresh ways Sparks touch on all of this history, musical and otherwise, makes it all the more fitting that they released this album on Island, the label that issued their classic Kimono My House. In its own way, The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte is also classic Sparks. Only Ron and Russell Mael could have made this album, and while theyve always done what they needed and wanted to do as artists, its extra satisfying that this peak in their popularity coincides with music this vibrantly engaging. ~ Heather Phares

Rovi