The year's end may soon be approaching, but there is still time for an album to spring a surprise. While MY NAME IS SPARKLE is unlikely to rattle the cage of the year's big hitters, it is capable of rousing interest and far from falls by the wayside. You could go as far and say that the album is a compelling piece of innovative art as the project appears to start life as a secular-spiritual play before rolling out as a set of easy listening folk-pop tunes that are kind to the ear. Thee Holy Brothers (the collaboration of longstanding LA based folk-rock practitioners Willie Aron and Marvin Etzioni) are the architects behind this fascinating project that is heavy on the narrative and more than a little inquisitive in how it transmits from record to listener.
There are almost two different stratospheres that this album resides in. One where you pay no real attention to the backstory and take the tracks at face value of being exceedingly catchy tunes. The stand out song from this perspective is the focal number 'Let the Great World Spin' that appears twice on the twelve track collection - with and without horns. The other track to flex interest in the ears is 'The End of Suffering', a song bringing up the rear of a segment when the album burrows deep into your psyche. The other faze of this record is to take a gander through the backstory of who is sparkle, what does it represent and what is the relevance of finding Elvis in Jerusalem.
Take your pick of approach and MY NAME IS SPARKLE will prod your curiosity by royally entertaining with its clarity and ability to spin a complex thread in an engaging musical style.