SPARKS TO FIRE

With no press release, promo pics, little notice and to very little fan fare (to date), Flash Talk from Glasgow released their debut album on Christmas Day 2014. Sparks To Fire is utterly sensational, I'm honestly struggling to put into words how good, how assured, ambitious, soulful, true and beautiful this album is. I'll give it a go!

Flash Talk came on to the scene a year ago with two videos for their songs Synthesise and Miracle. They then promptly disappeared to complete an album - returning as a 7-piece with a superb work of art.

Synthesise kicks in with huge synths before a beat brings in the bass. The song flows superbly but it goes up a notch towards the end with the glorious 'every time you touch me' section with stunning harmonies before a laser brings everything back in.

Try to catch your breath.

Automatic is kind of Bowie meets Kraftwerk produced by Arthur Russell. A robot love song. The production throughout the album is crystal clear. The Kraftwerk style section sends warm tingles down my spine.

Automatic when I needed you (x3)

Automatic when I needed you (x3)

Automatic when I needed you (x3)

The love you take will make or break you

The love you take, the love you make

The album cover is apt, this is a band reaching for the stars. Miracle is the kind of song that Coldplay would kill for. The closing 1 minute and 20 seconds is like nothing else you will have heard all year - reaching for the stars and jetting past them to Mars.

Tiny Little Sparks is explosive, the beautiful guitar riff bringing a sense of calm before the menacing bass and beat kick in and the chorus makes you punch the air in delight. A soaring anthem with a Who style breakdown before the riff lifts you into the stratosphere.

Did I mention the production - listen to We're All Cruel on headphones, it is an incredible song with production to match. The funky bass and beats that kick in on the second verse are incredible. The closing outro screams remix.

I never share my dreams when I'm awake

Cause I dream of escape

Land of the Lost Cause is a magical, mystery poem, cinematic in terms of lyrics and feeling. The explosion back into life at 2 minutes and 45 seconds is spine tingling.

The burst of energy that is urges a love to Run to the Horizon on the chorus of the song is infectious. You feel like you are wanting the characters in this song (and the album) to make it, to get away, to escape.

If this fire ever, ever flickers out

I'll be singing of a lost cause til the end of time

Let's run to the horizon

We're on fire, fire, now

Sparks to Fire is currently my favourite song on a very strong album, starting with a spoken word sample before developing into something quite remarkable, full of ambition. Unrushed, beautiful vocals with real feeling, it just gets better and better as it goes on and with each listen.

Run to the Horizon and Sparks To Fire are both over 5-minutes long and feel like they are the real centrepiece of the album.

The album is full of love, hope, fear, a sense of something better being out there but being along; Whispering Song contains many of these themes and is as assured and soulful as the rest of the album.

We were living a different life

We were fighting a different fight

You were never at my side when you saw the light

Who are you to hold me in your arms?

The album closes with Fire Went Out, a gorgeous acoustic soul ballad. The closing section is just magical and could bring a tear to a glass eye, taking on a gospel/americana flavour.

We are lazy dreamers, we don't know when our fire went out

Quite an incredible album. No gigs have been announced to date so simply enjoy the album for the time being by visiting Flash Talk at Bandcamp.

Five for Friday - Part V, Glastonbury special

So I have the day off today, the papers, TV and Radio are full of Glastonbury coverage. If I have heard 'Glastonbury mud' once, I have already heard it a dozen times.


Here are 5 tunes that may feature prominently on the Beeb's coverage over the weekend;


Lets kick start this Friday with some booty shaking of the highest order in the shape of Beyonce's delightful derriere. Jay-Z is a lucky man indeed. Beyonce is pretty lucky as well, with her man providing several outstanding pop anthems, with 'Crazy In Love' being my personal favourite; taking the horns from The Chi-lites 'Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)' and speeding them up and making them sound a million times louder. This still sounds fresh, pure pop.

I'm not a huge fan of Coldplay, but I do genuinely love their song 'Fix You', especially the closing section beginning 'tears stream, down your face'. With Coldplay up against U2, both will be trying to outdo each other with their 'big' songs. This has all the makings of a real 'Glastonbury moment'.

So what about U2? Reports coming out of the 'camp' indicate that they are all arguing over what to play. Some early stuff, some political stuff, some crowd pleasers, some new stuff, experimental stuff...They certainly have enough to choose from. 


There is also going to be a protest against the bands decision to move their publishing company to Holland to save money on tax. So it may well be in the bands best interests to just blast out a career spanning best of set. After all, no matter what you think about Bono and his cronies, they do have some incredible songs. This, along with 'One' and 'Pride' is probably my personal favourite and I used to think the video was really cool when I was a kid. I still do, I'd love a band to do this in Glasgow city centre.

So that is the headliners, how to choose 2 more songs from such an incredible line-up. I've already devoted quite a lot of attention to Primal Scream and Screamadelica in this blog, but to see them playing it at Glastonbury would be amazing. I also imagine Kool and the Gang will generate a real party vibe when they play!


I've been listening to The Smiths quite a bit lately and I imagine that Morrissey will throw a few classic into his set. Despite his miserable image at times, Morrissey knows how to wow a crowd. This would be inredible if he launched into this and introduced Marr from the side of the stage, the shimmering guitar echoing across Glastonbury with the sun going down (presuming it comes up). 

I'll end with a burst of euphoric pop by The Go Team, as you always need to dance at a festival and when their debut album came out I found it refreshingly pure, raw and pop. They will be sure to get the crowd going at Glastonbury.