Sparro spreads his wings

Despite being born and raised in Sydney and performing at Harbour Party a couple of years back, LA-based crooner Sam Sparro has a shocking confession to make: he’s never been to Mardi Gras.

What better way to pop his cherry, then, than by performing as part of a killer line-up including Chicane, Hercules and Love Affair and — gulp — even Our Kylie.

“I don’t get nervous about many things, but I’m excited and nervous to lose my Mardi Gras virginity. I’ll be doing a couple of my own songs and a top secret tribute song,” he told the Star Observer.

“And Kylie — she’s just the sweetest person on the planet. She brings with her this sophistication and class and also a really beautiful sense of generosity and kindness,” he gushed.

It’s been just on four years since Sparro released his debut album, home to the chart-beating single Black and Gold. In that time he’s changed record companies and changed sounds — gone are the ’80s electro flourishes of old, and in their place is a warmer disco sound better suited to his stunning voice.

It’s all on show on his soon-to-be-released sophomore, Return To Paradise.

“It’s the album I’ve always wanted to make, to be honest. I love soul, disco and funk.

“I didn’t start out making an album like this, but about a year into the process I thought, hang on, what am I doing? I should be making the music I want to sing, rather than making it for other people.”

He’s kept busy these past four years collaborating with a diverse roster of artists, from dance mavericks Basement Jaxx to funk-soul sister Nikka Costa.

But it’s his work on Adam Lambert’s upcoming second album Trespassing that sounds particularly exciting. Sparro contributed two songs, Broken English and Shady, the latter with musical icon and Chic founder Nile Rodgers.

“I’ve always been really obsessed with Chic, and now we’ve collaborated on a song together. It’s a disco fantasy come true,” Sparro laughed.

“We were in the studio together, Adam and I, and we came up with this bass line I thought Nile Rodgers would be great playing. So we just asked him on Twitter, and he said yes.

“He seems to be really still living life to the fullest — he’s been battling cancer for the last couple of years but he’s still got such a great attitude.”

It seems Sparro and Lambert have developed something of a musical bromance, undeterred by the fact that Lambert’s debut single famously took more than a few cues from Sparro’s own Black and Gold.

“We have so much fun in the studio. We laugh a lot and we love thinking of clever ways to take things that are important to him and turning them into pop songs.

“We’re part of a small group of out queer recording artists — there’s definitely a sense of camaraderie there, and a mutual appreciation for each other’s work.”

INFO: Sam Sparro, Mardi Gras Party, March 3, plus Toff In Town, Melbourne, March 8 and Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, March 9. Tickets through Moshtix.