Sparks Announce New Musical Release

Sparks to release the original 2013 recording of Annette

30-09-24
Sparks are set to release the original 2013 recording of Annette this October on Lil’ Beethoven Records as a limited edition 3LP vinyl boxset, with the original cast – Rebecca Sjöwall as Ann/Annette, Russell Mael as Henry McHenry and Ron Mael as The Accompanist / The Conductor.

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 In 2013 Sparks, Ron and Russell Mael, wrote and recorded Annette – a semi-operatic work about a star-crossed couple Henry McHenry and Ann, and a singing baby Annette. With plans to release Annette as the 22nd Sparks album and to tour the musical, the cast was simple: Henry, an edgy standup comic, was to be portrayed by Russell; Ann, a successful Soprano opera star, by real life opera star Rebecca Sjöwall; and The Accompanist / The Conductor by Ron.

Everything was set. Suspenseful. Dramatic. Artistic. And a musical.

A chance meeting with the legendary French film director Leos Carax, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, altered Annette’s destiny. Leos was in Cannes with his then current film, Holy Motors in which he had used the Sparks’ song, ‘How Are You Getting Home’. Ron and Russell were there in the hopes of securing funding for a movie version of their recent, highly acclaimed, narrative album The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman. Returning home, they sent Leos the as-yet-unreleased new album not seeking anything other than his thoughts on their new project and were stunned when Leos responded that he wanted Annette to be his next movie.
Eight years later, Ron and Russell returned to the Cannes Film Festival of 2021, this time on the red carpet with Leos for the opening night film of the festival, Annette. Starring Adam Driver as Henry McHenry, Marion Cotillard as Ann and Simon Helberg as The Conductor, Annette – the musical film – was showered with awards, especially in France where Carax won Best Director at Cannes, and where the film won three Lumières Awards and five César Awards including Best Original Music for Ron and Russell.

“The most original film of 2021, Annette is a ride like no other, a spellbinding waltz in a storm.” Empire Magazine
“It’s a swoon of anxiety and rapture.” The Guardian
“Beautiful, sensual, startling” The Telegraph

Now, the original 2013 recording of 46 tracks is released as a limited edition 3LP boxset on the band’s own label Lil’ Beethoven Records. Included in the boxset is the libretto and a poster with artwork created by Galen Johnson. Writing in the sleevenotes of this boxset release Ron and Russell Mael have said “Annette was a divisive film, but we feel a great film, and directed with enormous artistic skill by Leos, with a magnificent cast. It was unapologetically a musical. After all, the French had made the greatest film musical of all — apologies to Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen — The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand. Still, we feel that this earlier version of Annette should be listened to not as the preparatory or demo step toward a filmed version, but rather as a complete and alternative version in itself. We are very proud of it.”

Tracklisting

SIDE A
01 SO MAY WE START
02 TRUE LOVE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY
03 (I GOT A LOT IN COMMON WITH) DOSTOEVSKY, PART 1
04 GIRLS LOVE A MAN WHO MAKES THEM LAUGH
05 SHOW BIZ NEWS 1 – ROMANCE RUMOURS
06 WE LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH
07 I’M AN ACCOMPANIST
08 ANN’S ARIA
09 SHOW BIZ NEWS 2 – TIED THE KNOT

SIDE B
10 TRUE LOVE ALWAYS (ONE STAR RISING, ONE IN DECLINE)
11 SHOW BIZ NEWS 3 – BABY NEWS
12 (I GOT A LOT IN COMMON WITH) DOSTOEVSKY, PART 2
13 YOU USED TO LAUGH
14 SHOW BIZ NEWS 4 – TROUBLE IN MARRIAGE
15 MY STAR’S IN DECLINE
16 SHOW BIZ NEWS 5 – MARRIAGE RECONCILIATION ATTEMPT
17 TURBULENT SEA (ANN’S MURDER)
18 SHOW BIZ NEWS 6 – YACHT GONE MISSING

SIDE C
19 WE’VE WASHED ASHORE / ANNETTE’S ARIA / I WILL HAUNT YOU, HENRY
20 SHOWBIZ NEWS 7 – SHIPWRECK TRAGEDY
21 WE ARE THE POLICE
22 I’M A GOOD FATHER
23 THIS IS A BABY
24 THE CONDUCTOR

SIDE D
25 IT’S NOT REALLY EXPLOITATION
26 SHOW BIZ NEWS 8 – ANNETTE’S FIRST CONCERT TOUR
27 BABY ANNETTE TOUR AD
28 THE PREMIERE PERFORMANCE OF BABY ANNETTE
29 ANNETTE ON THE NIGHTY NIGHT SHOW
30 IS SHE LEGITIMATE (EXPERTS ON TV SHOW)
31 I HAVE THE SAME DREAM EVERY NIGHT / I WILL HAUNT YOU, HENRY

SIDE E
32 BABY ANNETTE INTERNATIONAL TOUR AD
33 WE LOVE ANNETTE (TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD)
34 ALL THE GIRLS
35 SHOW BIZ NEWS 9 – END OF SUCCESSFUL TOUR
36 ALL THE GIRLS (REPRISE)
37 MURDER OF CONDUCTOR, PART 1
38 MURDER OF CONDUCTOR, PART 2
39 I HAVE THE SAME DREAM (REPRISE)
40 SHOW BIZ NEWS 10 – SUPERBOWL ANNOUNCEMENT

SIDE F
41 ANNETTE’S SUPERBOWL PERFORMANCE
42 HE IS A MURDERER
43 TOO OPERATIC
44 TRUE LOVE ALWAYS FINDS A WAY (END VERSION)
45 STEPPING BACK IN TIME
46 IT’S THE END

Annette – An Opera By Sparks (The Original 2013 Recordings) is available exclusively through Sparks’ store HERE, limited to 1,000 copies.