Just as life-altering changes can arise in the wake of a night and priorities can be reshuffled to our heart’s desire, a lot can happen in the space between album releases.
Just as life-altering changes can arise in the wake of a night and priorities can be reshuffled to our heart’s desire, a lot can happen in the space between album releases. Just ask Alexander Burnett. Following Sparkadia’s incredible 18 month tour for their acclaimed debut album Postcards (2008), the Sydney quartet suddenly dissolved into a solo entity. Despite having each of his band mates depart for personal reasons in 2009, Burnett bravely and passionately carried on. And thank god he did. Sparkadia’s sophomore album, The Great Impression, is a distinctive and impressive record on copious accounts.
There’s the obvious shift in musical dynamic; significant change in choice of producer – from Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Blur, Doves, Elbow) to Mark Tieku (Florence And The Machine, CocknBullKid); but more importantly, The Great Impression marks the reinvention of Sparkadia. This is the great alt-pop record that Burnett has been yearning to unleash; that he has made a superior album without his former band mates says as much about Burnett as it does of the value in committing to vision rather than fellowship.
The Great Impression opens with the warm atmospherics and tinkling percussion of its title track, in which Burnett’s falsetto glimmers amidst the celestial beauty of the song’s expansive pop soundscape. As Sparkadia is now the singular musical vision of Burnett, The Great Impression espouses a liberating air of refreshing experimentation while allowing Burnett’s love of quirky yet majestic pop to evolve. With new musical collaborators in a fresh producer, session musicians and a live band, Burnett’s decision to escape Sydney and relocate to London has proven worthwhile. Having distilled varying influences and ideologies into Sparkadia’s sophomore album, Burnett transports the listener on the enchanting journey that he embarked on to arrive at Sparkadia’s rebirth.
While Fingerprints traverses the same atmospheric melancholy of its predecessor, Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs is the first crowning jewel on The Great Impression. With its punchier rhythms, deep grooves and Burnett’s soulful vocal delivery,Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs‘ immaculate and gorgeous textures are underpinned by an affecting narrative on the "American Dream". China is a beautifully crafted pop epic lined in poised lyrical sensitivity. The juxtaposition of China‘s chillingly pensive verses and its chorus’ soaring, uplifting lilt is sublimely executed while the composition also features Burnett’s finest prose: "We’re constructed from the same design / With a heart that makes no sense to the mind / We can keep it together but pressure and time have their way".
From the Tom Petty/Roy Orbison-inspired Love Less Love, the album unravels Burnett’s grace, boldness and versatility: the imagery-laden Ghost is deeply affecting (and as it turns out, tear-inducing); Shoot Straight‘s quirky 80s-invoking funk-pop is playful but more enchanting is Mary‘s glorious gospel tones and hymnal vocal cries. Hurt Me‘s self-deprecating lyricism is punctuated by clattering percussion that Burnett has termed the "junk" sound, which re-emerges on several tracks. The brilliant I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish depicts the dark period following his band mates’ departures and glides perfectly into the pensive The Lost Ones, in which Burnett’s glorious falsetto summons a chilling profundity.
The cinematic air of Fade From View provides a fitting bookend to The Great Impression – an album resplendent in atmospheric, glacial soundscapes and engrossing in its journey of self-realisation. The Great Impression is a truly sublime and enchanting pop record pierced with a stirring emotional intensity.
Best Track: Ghost
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In A Word: Atmospheric
Label : Ivy League
