Threes and "Eme Nakia" (2006–2008)
On March 9, 2006, by way of their official website, Sparta announced a new album, entitled Threes. Two days before the release, the entire album was available for streaming on their MySpace page. The album was released on October 24, 2006. Their first single off the album was "Taking Back Control", and "Erase It Again" was released as the second single in mid-2007.
Davis' first show with the band was at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, in July 2006. However, the band looked at the show as a "warm-up" and the show at Los Angeles' Troubadour, July 29, 2006, was referred to as their "first show to the public in 15 months" by Ward. They played three songs off the upcoming album: "Crawl", "Weather The Storm", and the single "Taking Back Control". At this show Ward also told the crowd about what happened when he left the band the previous year, saying he would rather have the crowd hear it from him, than the press in the following months. Sparta played at Chicago's Lollapalooza festival the following week. The band toured the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe heavily after the release of the album with bands such as Lola Ray, Aloha, As Tall As Lions, Sound Team, Moneen, MeWithoutYou, Lovedrug, Straylight Run, Deftones and My Chemical Romance. On February 19, 2007, the band played a free concert with Lydia Vance in Las Vegas for the XPOZ Coalition, an anti-smoking organization. While touring with Straylight Run and Lovedrug, Sparta allowed Lovedrug to continue touring by letting them use their instruments and equipment after Lovedrug's gear was stolen following a show in Detroit, Michigan.
In conjunction with the album Threes, Sparta also released a 16-minute film entitled "Eme Nakia". The film, the soundtrack for which is performed by Sparta, is about drummer Hajjar's early life, set during the Lebanese civil war of 1975–1990. Hajjar fled at the age of five to the United States, settling in the sprawling west Texas border town of El Paso. When Hajjar was 14, his mother ("Eme") died after a bout with cancer and his father, who had been distant, left the family. His brother, 18 years old at the time, assumed responsibility for the family and raised Hajjar and his sister. The film follows Hajjar's early life story, showing his challenges and ending with him in present day. The independent film received good reviews and is available for free with purchase of the Threes album. The word "Eme" is Arabic for mother, and "Nakia" was Hajjar's mother's name.
