BROTHERS Ron and Russell Mael have never been ones to conform.

From their earliest days as Sparks, their avant-garde and individual approach to making music set them apart from the mainstream.

As they prepare to release Hippopotamus, their first album in eight years and then head to Manchester as part of a UK tour, that independent spirit remains as strong as ever.

Hippopotamus is an epic, sprawling, semi-operatic celebration of electronica which in true Sparks fashion could not be an album by anyone else.

“We don’t think in pop music you have to be tied to any specific structure,” said Russell. “The form has been there for 60 years and at this point it’s time for everyone to start finding new ways of dealing with that and in our small way we try to at least do things we think are fresh and not relating to the past.”

Russell said that not having had an album for so long - the pair did collaborate with Franz Ferdinand on the album FFS in 2015 - had meant they were ready to return to the studio.

“The time away from doing a pure Sparks album does help to reinvigorate you,” he said.

The brothers have been working on a couple of movie scores over the past couple of years.

“It has liberated us more not having to work with an entire concept from start to finish as you have to do with a movie,” he said. “When you are working on a film it’s much more of a team effort.

“When it comes to Sparks, we’ve always been our own bosses.

“I think we are are really bad at the art of compromise,” he laughed. “It’s not our forte and I think that’s what makes Sparks’ music special and idiosyncratic; the fact that we don’t have to compromise in the slightest.

“And I’m pleased to say that we have been fortunate to find an audience that appreciates that stance.”

Not having produced a new Sparks album for so long you’d suspect that a return to the studio could be a nerve wracking experience but Russell said it was quite the contrary.

“Being away from a Sparks album for quite a while actually made it less stressful,” he said. “We were more excited to get out there and prove a point.

“Sure there are always squabbles over specific details but the whole process is fun. For us making an album is a lengthier process than for a lot of bands. This album took 10 months to record which is a lot of time to devote to one project so you need a lot of focus not to lose sight of what you are doing.

“But then we have been there before so know what we are up against!”

Hippopotamus is Sparks 23rd studio album. Back in 2008 Sparks took the unprecedented step of playing all of their then 21 albums over 21 consecutive nights in London.

“That was life affirming experience for us,” said Russell. “We normally never like to look back and we’re always thinking to the future.

“But for that one event we were obligated to look back at everything we’d done.

“Having gone through the monumental task of rehearsing and performing around 260 songs we were really proud to sit back and see what we’d done.”

Although very much pioneers of electronic music, Russell believes that on Hippopotamus, as with all the band’s albums, the songs rather than the technology comes first.

“We are still old fashioned in a way as we think stuff should be based around the song, rather than having technology guide you on a path where you find the song,” he said.

“The basis of what we do comes from having good material and then applying technology to it

“We have been given an opportunity to create something and hopefully have it heard so we have a pride in what we do and make it as special as we can.”

Hippotamus is released on September 8. Sparks play the Ritz, Manchester on Friday September 22