Sparks (Beach House song)

"Sparks" is a song by American dream pop band Beach House. The song was released on July 1, 2015, through Sub Pop, as the lead single for their fifth studio album Depression Cherry (2015). A visualizer for the song was uploaded on the band's YouTube channel on the same day.

Background
On June 26, 2015, Beach House announced on Twitter that they would play "Sparks" on SiriusXMU on July 1, adding that it would be the lead single for their then-upcoming album Depression Cherry.

Victoria Legrand from the band, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, said that the song happened because of a "wild" sound from a keyboard the duo bought in Texas during the recording sessions of Bloom. She also states the song as "a nice beginning of another place that still has some of the past in it."

Release
"Sparks" was released on July 1, 2015. It was chosen as a single by the duo not because they thought that it would be a hit, but because of "the ability for the song to connect between their previous songs and Depression Cherry."

"Sparks" would also be released on the band's website, along with "PPP" and "Beyond Love"—which were released a month later. In order to access any of the three singles, one would use the now-unavailable "Single Finder" feature on the band's website and would have to pick their top three Beach House songs, which determines which one of the three singles would likely be their favorite.

Composition
The song begins with a vocal loop of Legrand's voice that was "accidentally" captured at the duo's soundcheck in Bristol, England, with her and Alex Scally being fascinated by the sound of it; it was added as background vocals running throughout the entire song. The vocal loop is "broken by a ripping, shoegaze-y" guitar", as described by Pitchfork.

Reception
Chosen as "Best New Track", Eric Torres of Pitchfork described the song as "a distilled version of the devotionals with which Beach House first found their footing, pulling from the past while looking resolutely into the future."

Track listing

 * US CD single
 * 1) "Sparks" (radio edit) – 4:10
 * 2) "Sparks" (album version) – 5:21

Personnel
Beach House
 * Alex Scally
 * Victoria Legrand

Additional
 * Chris Coady – production
 * Chris Bear – drums
 * Jay Wesley – assistant engineering
 * Morgan Stratton – assistant engineering