Ever wondered what Goya’s ghastly etchings might sound like if transformed into a double-vinyl opus? Mark Springer’s ‘Sleep of Reason’ tackles exactly that, weaving eerie piano themes, a striking string quartet, and a dose of Neil Tennant’s unmistakable vocals. In this conversation, he digs into the album’s dark undercurrents, shares how Goya’s macabre art sparked something uniquely urgent, and reveals the moments in the studio that pushed his creativity into uncharted territory. We spoke with Mark about dark sources of inspiration, sonic experimentation, the modern monsters of social media, and why composing a one-hour piano piece is, for him, a form of exertion not unlike physical training.

Hey Mark! You’ve described Sleep of Reason as a sprawling double-vinyl project shaped by Goya’s haunting imagery. Can you take us inside that initial spark of inspiration—what pushed you to translate those eerie etchings into layered piano passages, string quartets, and a vocal collaboration with Neil tennant?

SOR for me is a work that was atmospherically conjured from viewing the works by Goya and the etchings were a jumping off point into a musical landscape where dark energy and visions murmur together into a story of demonic characters and powerful forces, destruction from the distance of time but also relating to our very present, threatening moment. I could see my way to create this musical exploration!

The quintet piece was initially written with an opera voice as the fifth element but my artistic collaborator at Exit, Sarah Killery, guided me to re-envision the piece with a non traditional operatic voice and most particularly Neil Tennant! His voice is both powerful and original and once we were in contact, through a lively confluence of chance, I connected with Neil and sent him my musical visions for SOR. He dived into producing lyrics and vocals for the 6 parts of the piece that I had written and it just powered on! 

Alongside this quintet piece I had been expanding the whole feel of the work and pushing ideas for a separate quartet and a 4 part solo piano piece to explore and extend the work into a multi dimensional journey encompassing new sounds and also piano techniques that would be challenging to play and record. So it couldn’t be contained and a mammoth production ensued.

Working with the Sacconi String Quartet must have added a rich texture to your compositions. How did that dynamic come together in the studio—was there a particular moment when you thought, “Yes, this fusion of styles is clicking in a way I’ve never experienced before”?

I have been writing string quartets for quite some time and it is always great to work with a new group like the Sacconi Quartet. Each Quartet ensemble I have recorded with have a truly unique quality and the rapport between the players is often very telepathic. The Sacconi’s have been together for quite some time and have a really distinctive and powerful rapport, perfect for SOR. The studio environment is ideal for my work as it has total silence and intensity and I can try out ideas with the Quartet who were really up for it to explore ways to inhabit the SOR score.

I don’t see my music in any way as a ‘fusion’ of styles as all through my musical work, from early on, my aim is to find ways to make sounds that can push into new territories as in my first group Rip Rig + Panic, where we combined pop singles, featuring the vocals of Neneh Cherry, with dissonant sounds and improvised freedoms to surprise and shock the listeners at that time. Where were we going? Were we in the pop world or in the free jazz world or are we in the classical world? And this sensibility, I have carried through into all my work, Sleep of Reason being an example of this. It is the desire to make something unexpected that interests me.

Rip Rig and Panic were known for defying convention, and this new work similarly traverses classical, cinematic, and pop elements. Do you find that rebellious spirit still pushing you forward, or has it evolved into something altogether different now that you’re collaborating with a pop legend like Neil Tennant?

I think that my energy comes through in all aspects of my creativity and I can not move too far from a restless, maybe rebellious, making drive when it comes to my music and painting. Neil has brought some seriously sharp and tough minded images to play in his lyrics and we both feel we have made a work that lives for the rough edge of time now. The ensemble quartet piece and piano solo move in different directions while pushing through the musical language from the quintet and that’s where I can see it going.

The piece for voice and strings explores modern ‘monsters,’ including the influence of social media on egos and division. When you were writing this section, did you consciously try to mirror Goya’s satire of his own era, or was it more about capturing the turmoil of the present in an abstract way?

There are modern monsters all around us! There were ancient monsters hounding generations and those threatening lives and culture in Goya’s time too. The art in the Goya works created a dark and light that I felt rather than specifically emulated. There is a mirror that goes from one period to another and Neil’s lyrics are able to to evoke  both the past and to talk about the contemporary situation with social media mass monstering our peace of mind and aberrant egos that push themselves into our world. Neils lyrics add a real concrete story structure that I feel inhabits the more abstract elements of the music in a very powerful way.

Your music often veers into unexpected territory. Were there any moments during the recording process where you had to wrestle with the material—maybe scrap entire sections or rethink something because it wasn’t matching the dark, atmospheric vision you were aiming for?

In the contemporary music world, it can feel like there aren’t really any rules anymore, in terms of what is possible, so this can make it quite hard to decide where you want to take the sounds. I often start with one or two motifs and then I begin to unwind the harmonic structures around those and see where that takes me. It’s not a very conscious idea. It often involves me sitting at the piano and exploring the thematic material in a myriad of different ways. Sometimes I do wrestle with the material and other times I throw things away and start again! However, once I have decided where the work is going, I can then write everything down using an ink pen as I rarely alter it from that point onwards. As a composer, it isn’t hard to make something that’s dark sounding but it’s another thing to make something that convinces you.

The piano piece is one hour long and that in itself requires quite a bit of wrestling 🙂 In the recording process, I will often re-record sections and there exists the film made by Guy Marc Hinant and François Ducat of the Brussels recording in action which you can see on YouTube and also on the Exit website. www.exit.co.uk This film, definitely, shows some wrestling with the material in the process of the recording in it!

Phantoms and Monsters kicks off the album and sets an ominous tone. Did you picture any cinematic scenarios or specific visuals while crafting that track, and how do you hope listeners will react when they hear it for the first time?

It’s a good beginning to the album to have the sound that expresses the mood of SOR so we started with the quintet piece. Phantoms and Monsters is the first part of that work. Neil suggested we release with P&M as the first single and I agreed that it gives a good taste of what’s to come. We will be making some visuals to go with the music shortly so, yes, there is a strong visual element that Exit will be bringing out soon.

There’s a certain theatrical flair to your previous chamber, operatic, and cinematic works. Was it a challenge balancing those dramatic instincts with Neil Tennant’s lyrical and vocal approach, or did the collaboration feel like unearthing a new sonic playground for both of you?

I have written for opera including “Army of Lovers” a piece performed 2 years ago at the Playground Theatre in London with a libretto by the novelist David Flusfeder. I thoroughly enjoy writing for opera as it’s such a full-on entity and I enjoy writing for voices and orchestra combined. I think SOR has something operatic in its DNA. Neil has constructed a series of scenarios that are stories in themselves but also developed a dramatic, dark undercurrent in the 6 parts of the piece like many good operas. Definitely, this is a new sonic playground for us as we have both made something unexpected that has some unique qualities that we have discovered through working together.

This project arrives amid a world bristling with political and cultural tensions, which you’ve woven into the album’s DNA. What do you think Goya, if he were alive today, might sketch in response to our current climate—and how does your music channel that sense of disquiet?

If Goya were alive today he would have no shortage of ghastly images and apparitions to feed off and would make more dark tortured images, I am sure. All the caprices of his own era have yet to be addressed in our own and we’ve added some extras in too!

You’ve mentioned the album features three major pieces that are interconnected yet distinct. What was your creative process in structuring them—did you compose them in a linear fashion, or were they developed simultaneously and then pieced together for maximum impact?

The pieces were written in a linear fashion, one following on from the other and each one influenced by and influencing the other. I don’t piece things together it’s more of an organic approach as while I am writing I don’t know where the music will take me and not me it.

Finally, Sleep of Reason is dropping in multiple formats, including a double vinyl release. Why was that physical experience important to you—especially in an era when so much listening happens on digital platforms—and how do you hope it enriches the overall immersion for fans?

Well first of all, you need to be able to afford vinyl which can be pricey and all the production avenues are expensive as well. It’s totally ok about people listening via streaming as the music is the thing, but I know that the quality of instruments, artists, studios, microphones and the massive amount of combined work that goes into the whole process and production of a beautifully designed and recorded piece of work will be fully appreciated on good sound systems. The music is powerful so it will be an immersive sound experience in your own head.