Sparks are giving fans a festive gift this year as the legendary duo are set to release the original 2013 recording of Annette – their spellbinding opera, on download and streaming sites on 23rd December. Following the 2024 release of the limited edition 3LP vinyl boxset of Sparks’ original 2013 recording of Annette, this extraordinary album – that would become the award-winning story and soundtrack for the acclaimed musical film Annette starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard and Simon Helberg – is to be released on download and streaming services this Christmas. See links here
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 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. Empire Magazine described it as,
“The most original film of 2021, Annette is a ride like no other, a spellbinding waltz in a storm.”
Writing in the sleevenotes of the 3LP 2024 boxset release Ron and Russell Mael 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:
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
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
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
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
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
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
