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Photo by Miya Folick

Chrome Sparks is used to building other people’s worlds, known for his work with the instantly recognizable names I am certain are on all of your playlists (and yes, I mean you reading this) such as  Slayyyter, Lily Allen, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, Miya Folick, and Mallrat. He’s decided that seven years was enough time working in other people's worlds and much like your therapist might tell you, it’s time to spend some time working on yourself. Chrome Sparks’ new album, Ball of Light, is out now via Chrome Sounds/AWAL, and it’s his most personal album yet bringing him back into the spotlight. 

As Chrome Sparks, born Jeremy Malvin, navigates finding himself, he enlists the voices of Khalid, Jónsi, Emma Louise, and Sedona to help him build his own world for once along the way. This record pairs his signature celestial production with newfound emotional depth, and the end result is a project that is deeply meaningful and comes across in a way that’s entirely apparent to the listener. From its first single, “Sleeper,” featuring Khalid and Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi, to the rhythmic hooks of my favorite tracks like “Pleasure” and “Pluto,” this is an electronic record that’s unmistakably catchy and refuses to be ignored. 

In other moments on the record, like “Orchestron” and “True Casio,” you can hear these deeply hypnotizing synths and keys come into play. What always strikes me about a good electronic record is when there’s moments without any lyrics, the instrumentation needs to draw you in, and this record does it in excess. Where lyrics and vocals are in play, the voices we hear like Emma Louise’s on “Ball of Light” and “Only I,” are enchantingly otherworldly. Alongside Emma Louise we also hear Khalid’s soulfully deep delivery matched with Jonsi’s unmistakable falsetto atop shimmering electronic textures. This combination of instrumentation and guest vocalists makes for an interestingly attractive record that Malvin has said is indicative of a broader creative reset. 

On the record, Malvin says “Over the last seven years, I’ve focused mostly on collaborations and other artists’ projects. Ball of Light is me finding myself again.”

Ball of Light is the first Chrome Sparks full-length solo project since 2018’s self-titled debut and follows earlier releases including “Goddess” and “Be on Fire.” This new record blends electronic music, ambient composition, and emotionally resonant songwriting that earned him his initial acclaim, but pushes his work and his music into a more expansive territory. It’s a record that’s limited, yet expansive, it’s also rooted in the past, yet future looking. Perhaps that dichotomy is something he’s learned from working with others and brought back to Chrome Sparks, I’d say that his influences from those he’s worked with has made Chrome Sparks music more refreshing to listen to, it’s new but it’s also so quintessentially him. 

Despite having largely stayed out of the artist spotlight in the last decade, some of his known credits in the production world have been on Slayyyter’s “Unknown Loverz” from WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, several tracks from Lily Allen’s West End Girl, including “Dallas Major,” “Lost Girl” and “Madeline,” Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco’s “Sunset Blvd” from I Said I Love You First, and Mallrat’s ARIA Platinum-certified “My Darling, My Angel." Recognize any of those? If you do, this might be a good time to go check out Chrome Sparks, your favorite artist's favorite collaborator.

Perhaps it’s not a huge surprise at all that when you go back to his formative days at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Malvin actually lived on top of a record store called Wazoo Records. In an interview with SPIN, he said “I would always go through their bargain bins where they had really cheap albums, but they also had the best new shit. I lived on the third floor, and the second floor was the record store and the first was a bar. I miss that bar so much. I moved in there before I was 21, and I was nervous that I would spend all my money on records, and when I turned 21 that I’d spend it all on alcohol. I had a little more self-control than I expected, thankfully, but I definitely spent too much money in both of those places. My favorite rare gem record is I’m An Indian, Too by Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band. It’s one of my favorite disco tracks of all time. It was a show tune that was adapted to be a disco track, and it’s really funky and really groovy.” 

Ball of Light has proven itself to be a confident showing of the new version of Chrome Sparks while still paying homage to the past. Influences new and old come into play, and Josh Malvin proves like anyone who’s gone looking for themselves, once you’ve actually done it, you return more confident than ever before. 

Listen to Ball of Light below: