aaamusic | On 16, Feb 2011

UK live shows

Mary Single Launch – Feb 16 – Gold Dust @ The Hoxton Bar & Grill

On Stage at 21:45

Feb 21 – NME Awards Show @ The New Players Theatre

Feb 28 – Time Out Live’s London Sessions @ Barfly

March 9 – Break Out (Music Week) @ Proud Galleries

Alex Burnett’s Sparkadia are set to release a limited edition 7” single, ‘Mary’, on Valentine’s Day through new independent label Gold Dust.

Shot through with slivers of soulful Springsteen, rousing gospel and a faultless Florence + the Machine worthy dose of dramatic street spirit, ‘Mary’ is powerful, intelligent pop music at it’s best.

With a remix by up and coming duo The Royal Palms on the B-side this 7” only release is a modern pop classic in the making.

This name of this Australian act might seem familiar to some. That’s because it is. In 2008 Sparkadia released Postcards, an assured debut packed with the sort of beguiling guitar pop songs that other bands spend years trying to conjure.

However, in May 2009 on the cusp of great things, Sparkadia disintegrated, leaving Alex as the only member. Instead of putting the final nail in the coffin, Alex gave the project a brand new lease of life, travelling from Berlin to Stockholm and New York to Los Angeles before settling in East London where, armed with ambition and wild ideas, he began the search to find a producer to help him lay down the pop gems in his head. He started working with producer Mark Tieku (Florence And The Machine, CocknBullKid) and ‘Mary’ is the first outstanding pop punch from those sessions.

Sparkadia is now the name for a singular musical vision with Alex name-checking David Bowie and Kate Bush as examples of how it can be done. About his solo direction he says; “I like guitar music – rock‘n’roll – but I love pop melodies,” explains Alex. “And I especially like them to be odd. Oddness is important.”

‘Mary’ is the debut release from the Gold Dust label. Gold Dust is the influential alternative pop night at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen which saw early performances from the likes of Jessie J, Guillemots and Ellie Goulding. This release sees them expanding their already formidable reputation as champions of all things great about contemporary pop music.