in 1993 sparks returned to the studio and released the stand-alone single "national crime awareness week", and wrote and produced the single "katharine hepburn" for christi haydon. "gratuitous sax & senseless violins" followed in november the next year. it was produced by the duo without an additional backing band. the album had a sound that returned towards the european-synthesizer orientated sound of "no. 1 in heaven". however the songs retained an emphasis on pop song structure and a sound that was only slightly removed from that of pet shop boys. the album was toured with christi haydon complementing the brothers on drums, as well as appearing in videos for the group. the a cappella title track "gratuitous sax" looked back to the equally brief opener of the band's 1974 album; "propaganda". "when do i get to sing 'my way'" makes reference to the frank sinatra signature-tune "my way".