Sydney’s Sparkadia have been gigging for many years, signed to the very independent label Boundary Sounds. Having cracked Triple J radio with an EP and a sun-soaked single, ‘Morning Light’, there has been quiet anticipation for a full length release from this indie-pop-rock band.
In 2008, arrives Postcards. Opening with the joyous melodic release of ‘Too Much To Do’, Sparkadia’s debut album delivers much more than their EP promised. The sweet backing harmonies of keyboardist Tiffany Preece, combined with the golden guitar jangle and glassy vocals of vocalist Alex Burnett, create a warm, pop sound that has been scarce in Australian music for quite some time. There’s an echo of artists such as Australian Crawl, and even Boz Scaggs comes to mind.
‘Kiss Of Death’ presents itself as another radio single contender – in fact, there’s a level of perfection here that could garner multiple hits.
‘Help Yourself’ uses stabs of piano to build melodrama, while ‘Connected’ is gentle indie-pop ecstasy, that Youth Group surely wish they had written.
Now with the successful team at Ivy League records behind them, Sparkadia seem set to soar into the stratosphere of the music industry. With the amount of radio exposure that this wondrous album deserves, Postcards will hopefully find its way into many Australian households. This is the start of something big.
4 / 5
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