Sparks, Ron and Russell Mael, have released the official video for their new single ‘Porcupine’ starring Self Esteem.
‘Porcupine’ is taken from the band’s first EP – MADDER! – released October 3, 2025
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Having announced their first EP ‘MADDER’ and the release of lead single ‘Porcupine’, Sparks have shared its accompanying video, starring musician and songwriter Self Esteem. Directed by Fred Rowson, produced by Blink Productions, with special effects by Selected Works, the release of the video follows Ron and Russell’s surprise appearance with Gorillaz at the Copper Box Arena in London and coincides with the North American leg of their band’s MAD! Tour.
Watch: Sparks In Concert – Live Highlights HERE
Pre-save MADDER!: https://transgressive.lnk.to/madder
Stream/buy ‘Porcupine’: https://transgressive.lnk.to/porcupine
After conquering the world with their 28th studio album MAD!, the eternally-creative Ron and Russell Mael are releasing the first EP of their illustrious career.
Four-track EP MADDER! is a companion to the Mael brothers’ record-breaking MAD! album, which gave them their career-best UK chart position. MADDER! follows on the tail of their rapturously received tours of Europe and Japan earlier this year, and alongside a string of North American dates.
“Not wanting the Mad!ness to end and buoyed by the phenomenal reaction to MAD!, we made a hasty but intense retreat to the studio to record a Sparks first: an EP,” say the band. “MADDER!, a four-song companion piece to the album, is for everyone who isn’t yet MAD! enough. We hope these new songs will take you to an even MADDER! place.”
The worldwide release of MADDER! is October 3, although physical copies – on CD, black vinyl and picture disc – will be on sale to fans during Sparks’ North American tour in September. The first single from the MADDER! EP is ‘Porcupine’, released today, a song of a guy’s fascination with a woman who possesses, shall we say, a prickly personality, all to a verse with a highly infectious organ riff that yields to heavy guitars in the choruses. “She’s a porcupine,” Russell croons—a metaphor or something more troubling?
Listen to Porcupine HERE
The other tracks on the EP are ‘Fantasize’, ‘Mess Up’ and ‘They’, and the new material is in the pioneering spirit of the MAD! album, which was greeted with rave reviews, including five-star ratings from Record Collector (“…further proof of genius”) and the Daily Telegraph (“The gold standard for left field pop”).
Sparks’ recent European tour, with the usual eclectic selection of the Mael brothers’ work, set against a stunning production, has also been an unqualified success, with Louder Than War describing the show as “a hundred minutes of energetic, thrilling pop songs spanning half a century” and Classic Rock Magazine writing “Wit, pathos and brutality….a hugely thrilling injection of joy and power”.
Remaining MAD! Tour dates
Mon. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Keswick Theatre
Tue. Sept. 9 – Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
Thu. Sept. 11 – Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center
Fri. Sept. 12 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre
Sun. Sept. 14 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! * new venue
Mon. Sept. 15 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre * new venue
Wed. Sept. 17 – Toronto, On – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Fri. Sept. 19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
Sat. Sept. 20 – St. Paul, MN – Fitzgerald Theater
Tue. Sept. 23 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
Wed. Sept. 24 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
Fri. Sept. 26 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
Sat. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Theatre
Mon. Sept. 29 – El Cajon, CA – The Magnolia
Tue. Sept. 30 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
Dec. 5-7 – Hong Kong – Clockenflap Festival
MADDER! Tracklisting
Porcupine
Fantasize
Mess Up
They
Porcupine Video Credits:
Starring Ron Mael, Russell Mael and Self Esteem.
Director: Fred Rowson
Producer: Paul Weston
Producer: Jack Bingham
VFX: Selected Works
Prod. Assistant: Lottie O’Connell
Director’s Assistant: James Robinson
Runner: Luca Bianchet
Editor: Sam Sneade
DOP: Stefan Yap
Focus Puller: Anil Duru
Camera Trainee: Lottie Lunn
Electrician: Alfie Sadler
Production Designer: Katie South
Costume Stylist: Ethne Read
Sparks Management: Sue Harris
Assistant to Sparks: Emmi Joutsi
HMUA (Sparks): Fey Adediji
Hair (Self Esteem): Lauren Bell
Make Up (Self Esteem): Byron London
Picture Vehicle Coordinator: Lewis Marting
Roller Operator: Reece Stray
Location Contact: Kelly Cassar
Colourist: Nielsan Bohl
Shoot Supervisor: Rocio Herrero
VFX Artists: Kieran Russell, Eileen Chan, Gianluca di Marco Producer: Nicola Simmons
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Stream/buy MAD! here
