SPARKS

[MrDemotime]

Katie Melua charms Sparks
‘A Happy Place – Sparks Vs Melua’

UK release July 26th 2010

Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have brought their pioneering pop sensibilities to Katie Melua’s new single ‘A Happy Place’ in this extraordinary Sparks Vs Melua recording. Whilst the original is whimsical alt-pop magic, this Sparks Vs Melua version is a startling, richly-layered masterpiece.

Katie joins the elite group of Morrissey and Yoko Ono as the only artists whose songs have been “remixed” by Sparks. “The remix genre has never really been alluring to us. We've always maintained that an artist's original rendition is the definitive version and thus shouldn't be tampered with. However, only on two other occasions did we reassemble an artist's original song: for Morrissey's 'Suedehead' and for Yoko Ono's 'Give Me Something' from her and John Lennon's ‘Double Fantasy’. Katie Melua’s ‘A Happy Place’ is our third ever “reconstruction”. We wanted to take the charm and magic of Katie’s original version and explode it into an epic adventure, a happy place in Sparks' mind.” explained Russell.

Written by Katie and Guy Chamber and originally produced by William Orbit, the song has been deconstructed by Ron and Russell before rebuilding it in their Los Angeles studio. This arrangement has new orchestrations by Ron, and Russell joins Katie on vocal duties. Jim Wilson and Marcus Blake, of Sparks’ touring band, also contribute additional guitar and bass.

Katie, who was in the audience when Sparks premiered their album ‘Exotic Creatures Of The Deep’ in London, was thrilled when she heard it: “I love hearing music that surprises me. I really wasn’t sure what to expect but Sparks have taken the concept of remixing to a completely new level and it is brilliant.”

‘A Happy Place’ is the second single from Katie’s fourth studio album ‘The House’ which was released in May and topped the pan-European charts. ‘The House’ was described by The Times as her “best yet” and “and a mighty leap forward” by Q Magazine while the Sunday Express declared “Four albums in, Melua has made her masterpiece’’ and the Mail On Sunday wrote “she proves herself to be a songwriter of subtlety and depth.”

Club remixes of ‘The Flood’, the first single from this album, gave Katie a club chart hit, peaking at number 2. ‘A Happy Place’ has a full club remix package featuring cuts by Robbie Rivera, Danny Kirsch, Loverush, Beatnoids and Product01.

‘A Happy Place – Sparks Vs Melua’ will be released on July 26th as the B side to Katie’s original version.

www.katiemelua.com