Indigo Sparke discusses influences behind new LP 'Hysteria'
Australian singer-songwriter Indigo Sparke‘s sophomore album Hysteria is a big step forward from her 2021 debut, Echo. Its haunting songs are the most memorable of her career so far, from intense folk tracks — like standout “Blue,” which she calls “one of the closest songs to my heart I have ever written” — to hazy dream-pop stunners like “Sad Is Love.” Having had Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker produce her debut, this one was produced by The National‘s Aaron Dessner, who also played on the album, alongside multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily and The Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick. Together, they created a multi-layered backdrop rich with autumnal melancholy, and at the forefront of it all is Indigo’s voice, which sounds even more powerful than it did on her debut. “The new album definitely has an edge to it that the last album didn’t have,” Indigo said in a recent interview with Atwood Magazine. “It is spirit and voice forward. It is intense and different.” It truly is, and it grows on you more and more with each listen. Stream it below.
We asked Indigo to tell us about what inspired the new album, and she made us a list, complete with commentary, that you can find below.
Indigo plays a release show for Hysteria tonight (10/7) at Public Records in Brooklyn, presented by Sounds of Saving and with special guest Katy Pinke. She also has co-headlining dates with Aoife Nessa Frances later in the fall, including a Brooklyn show at Union Pool on December 1. See all dates below.
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INDIGO SPARKE’S HYSTERIA INFLUENCES:
1. Cycles and seasons.
I’ve become quite obsessed with cycles and seasons since moving to the states. In Australia there really isn’t distinctive seasonal changes. I found that living in and through the changes and cycles of the weather really inspired my writing process. Winter was a big theme throughout the record. A lot of the songs were written in the dead of winter in Minneapolis and Taos, and Aaron and I recorded in the middle of Summer and then again in Winter.
2. History.
My own and others. The world. How history informs where we are all at in the present moment. I was turning over so much history inside of myself and a lot of the record was born from that reflection and reconciliation of my own history.
3. Flowers.
Watching them grow. Watching them die. Being amazed by their expression and beauty. I started growing flowers in the middle of the pandemic back in Australia and they became my reference point for tending and caring for the growth and survival of things in a greater sense.
4. Grief.
What a fucking beast of a thing. It informed so much in me. So many different forms of grief and grief waves that were swelling in my chest and stomach. To learn how to be with grief, my own and others, has been a deeply important and great lesson. How to welcome it and let it transform you in the most primal way. How to find space inside of it and create from that place.
5. Long drives.
Saved me in many ways. Moving through landscapes. Getting lost in thought and existential questions. Letting myself disappear out of the window into the abyss and blur of movement. Feeling a great sense of peace being alone on the road as time ate itself in the sky. Liminal and free. Hopeless and hopeful. Taking in the wonder of the world.
6. Kindness.
The kindness of my closest friends and of total strangers. Gave me the biggest reference point for hope in humanity and a belief that safe relationships are possible. To know what true holding feels like in the kindness of another human. Feeling peoples hearts and generosity and belief in me kept me going in moments when I thought perhaps I couldn’t.
7. Strong women in music.
Fiona Apple. Joni Mitchell. Sharon Van Etten. Dolores O’Riordan. Adrianne Lenker. PJ Harvey. Björk. Katy Pinke. Jackie West. My mother. Many others.
8. A little parlour guitar from Shahzad Ismaily.
I have written so many songs on it. Most of the new record was written with that guitar. I’ve never felt such a special connection with a musical instrument before. Like the feeling of true home and magic.
9. Tea.
Became such a beautiful and simple ritual for me through the whole time making the album. I drank so much tea! In the times when I was writing and recording it became my joy and in the times in between when I couldn’t do anything it became the simple thing I could hold onto when nothing else quite made sense in the huge changes that were happening in the world and inside of myself. The simplicity of it humbled me.
10. Dreams.
So many dreams. Waking dreams. Day dreams. Night terrors. Filled with so much. So much history. Trauma. Hope. Love. So much subconscious processing and strange realities informing my body and mind. Learning to open my eyes and truly “see” in a different way.
11. Love.
The monumental beauty of love. The terrifying void of love. The fragile vulnerability of love. The bright hope of love. The chaotic hysteria of love. The safe embrace of love. The bright flame of love leading me forward into new and unknown spaces.
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INDIGO SPARKE: 2022 TOUR
OCT 7TH BROOKLYN, NY PUBLIC RECORDS #
NOV 29TH WASHINGTON, DC SONGBIRD *
NOV 30TH PHILADELPHIA, PA JOHNNY BRENDA’S *
DEC 1ST BROOKLYN, NY UNION POOL *
DEC 2ND BOSTON, MA MID EAST CLUB *
DEC 3RD MONTREAL, QC BAR LE RITZ *
DEC 5TH TORONTO, ON THE DRAKE *
DEC 7TH CHICAGO, IL THE HIDEOUT *
DEC 9TH SEATTLE, WA THE SUNSET *
DEC 11TH PORTLAND, OR MISS STUDIO *
DEC 13TH SAN FRANCISCO, CA BOTTOM OF THE HILL *
DEC 14TH LOS ANGELES, CA GOLD DIGGERS *
# – with Katy Pinke
* – with Aoife Nessa Frances
