For The Things We Try To Keep Inside, Find Their Way Out In The Dark Of The Night

One of my favourite tracks from last year was an eerily pretty synth-pop tune called "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs" by local band Sparkadia. That song struck me as a bizarre cross between The Cure's "Lullaby" and Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" - which sounds rotten on paper but actually worked rather brilliantly. The same goes for the band's new single "China", the second from their soon to be released sophomore album "The Great Impression". If I had to describe it, I'd go with T'Pau meets Hurts with a bit of 80s power ballad thrown in for good measure. But before you say fuck no! give it a listen. I love the juxtaposition of the booming chorus against almost clinically depressed verses and the lyrics are genuinely beautiful. It's as pretty as it is morose and gets more amazing with each listen. "Talking Like I'm Falling Down Stairs" peaked at #59 (not bad at all given that it was only played by one radio station), so I'm hoping for bigger and better things this time around. Unfortunately, the video - below - is a bit of a mess. I'm sure they didn't have a lot of cash to splash around, so all I'll say is that Alex looks hot in the clip and I can't wait to see them rock the Metro in April! Download "China" from iTunes now.