Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

A  22-hour-old baby petitioning to be readmitted to the womb is  the protagonist of the catchy punk-pop  of Nothing Is As Good As They Say It Is, the 3 rd  single to be released from Sparks 26 th  studio album.    The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte  marks Sparks' first release on the venerable Island Records label in close to five decades, following such classics as 1974's landmark  Kimono My House , highlighted of course by the indelible hit single 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us'. The new album is described by  Ron and Russell Mael  as a record that is " as bold and uncompromising as anything we did back then or, for that matter, anytime throughout our career . "    Sparks previously shared the single  'Veronica Lake'  and the album title track alongside a  video  starring  Cate Blanchett .  The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte  also includes such instantly intriguing new musical vignettes as 'Mona Lisa's Packing, Leaving Late To

Most other musicians, when they've been working for over half a century, are resting on their laurels, basking in the warm glow of their heritage, accepting the odd Lifetime Achievement Award, playing the odd Greatest Hits tour and concentrating on shifting their back catalogue. But Sparks are not most other musicians. They are utterly unique. With the release of their 26th album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte , on May 26 th Ron and Russell Mael continue on that unique and uncompromising path. And, in a move that is as unexpected as it is unsurprising, the new bold, genre defying, modern masterpiece will be released by Island Records, the label that released their astonishing breakthrough record Kimono My House in 1974.     "Funny how things work! One of the most memorable periods for Sparks, the one that forever cemented our relationship with the UK and also exposed Sparks to a bigger audience around the world, was the 70s Island Records era. Chris Bl