We’ll admit that we don’t know the Sparks catalog as well as we should. However! We will admit that we know Travels With Brindle pretty well right now and more importantly: We know what we like! And we definitely like TWB! And everything that lead Brindle’r Chelsea Spear has put out thus far. Which includes this glorious undertaking fans are about to hear/hold in their hands.
The project in question? An officially licensed reinterpretation of Sparks’ No. 1 In Heaven album done in a way that only Travels With Brindle could… on ukulele. And recorded at the Boston Public Library. With a successful Kickstarter campaign to boot! Who needs major label money?!?! Or a big, fancy studio??? The answer is: Ya don’t! If you are more familiar with the Sparks record of the same name (Sans the “Starring Travels With Brindle” bit, that is) then we feel that this new version will be more a revelation than a revulsion. Unless you absolutely hate the sound of a ukulele and in that case, maybe TWB might not be your bag.
“Tryouts For The Human Race” launched alongside the Kickstarter campaign last September and, like the original, opens the record. But instead of the spaced out stylings and big, bravado of Sparks’ original, fans are treated to a quiet, grounded, and succinct take propelled by the ukulele stylings of Spear and her voice that’s less bombastic, more warm and filled with wonder. “Academy Award Performance” originally had a LOT going on (We said earlier that we don’t know Sparks’ catalog well, not that we didn’t do our homework here) as does “La Dolce Vita” so we found it refreshing to get these more intimate songs trading in the hyped up Electro Pop in favor of Spear’s voice, ukulele and more (The “more” being “finger snaps” and “torn-paper snare drum”).
“Beat The Clock” is probably the most subdued up until then on Sparks’ album so of course in the Travels With Brindle world it’s the opposite (Don’t worry, kids, we’re still ukulele-based here) with Spear’s bringing a lively vocal cadence to this one while “My Other Voice” does a great job of taking the song title on its’ word with the way Spear’s voice is manipulated in the mix thanks in part to vocal engineer Joel Edinberg. The title track put through a Travels With Brindle filter is both the best album comedown of all time as well as the soon-to-be most popular lullaby for parents looking for something beyond the norm. Because beyond the norm is exactly what all of No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle is and we absolutely love that we live in a world where that’s a thing.
No. 1 in Heaven Starring Travels With Brindle is out NOW with a record release show scheduled at The Dance Complex on March 14th with a full album performance featuring fusion dance troupe Balter Dance! Get more info on the show here, grab a copy of the album here (Or by clicking the stream below), and stay connected with all things Travels With Brindle by clicking here, here, or here.