Sting | Bridging the gap between novelty and nostalgia

Sting was on tour when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the spring of 2020. The artist, who has just celebrated his 70 years performing in Athens, has not yet decided to take it easy; he chose to speed up his work cycle by composing the songs for his 15^e album, The Bridge, which was unveiled this Friday. Press spoke to the legendary musician, who to date has won 17 Grammy awards and sold over 100 million albums over the course of his illustrious career, which began in 1978 with The Police.

Pierre-Marc Durivage
Press

We can read in the documentation accompanying the release of the album that it appears a bit like a collection of great successes which would however all be unpublished. This is indeed what you feel when you listen to the 14 songs, as they are inspired by everything Sting has done well in his career.

“In all the work I do, there is a kind of musical DNA that can be traced back to the very first songs I wrote”, explains the singer during a videoconference interview. . “And of course, this is all influenced by the music created by the artists I admired; when I was a child, I was very interested in folk music, and especially folk music from my region. I then became interested in jazz, country music, then rock-and-roll and blues. So I never really limited myself to one genre, because I feel like it’s kind of a prison. I think music is a global spectrum, and the links are easy for me to make. ”

This is how we go from more rock and more pop songs on the A side of the record to more jazz and folk songs on the second side – Sting candidly told us that he always thought of his albums as if they included always two sides, as in the time of vinyl. “It’s ridiculous, but I like the idea of ​​having a song at the end of side A that prompts you to flip it over, even though that’s not how people listen to music anymore!” », Launches the musician, laughing.

Nevertheless, it is good to know that three more pieces are offered on vinyl and CD, including a cover of (Sittin ‘On) The Dock of the Bay, by Otis Redding, but also the improbable Captain Bateman’s Basement. “It was really fun,” admits the bassist with a smile. I was jamming alone in the studio late one night, just having fun rattling when my agent heard me and suggested I put this on the album. I would never have thought of putting a bass solo on a record! ”

Long-time friends

The record, recorded in confinement, also features several long-time collaborators – we can happily recognize the touch of Branford Marsalis’ alto sax on Harmony Road or Dominic Miller’s acoustic guitar chords on For Her Love.

“I was in Paris most of the time, and someone else could be in Italy or Los Angeles,” says Sting. The challenge was to make it feel like a warm, intimate conversation. We do this by having pre-existing relationships with most musicians, and since I’ve been working with Dominic Miller for 30 years, same thing for drummer Manu Katché, we have a way of communicating that is almost wordless, even though we’re on. different continents. They understand what I want, so in a way, working that way was not so new to us. But I am very happy with what we have created. ”

The Bridge thus makes the bridge between several styles explored by the musician over time, but it also does so in the subject.

“I certainly didn’t want to write about the pandemic,” he says straight away. I write music first, then I ask the music to tell me a story. I think if the music is structured correctly, it has its own narrative. “

“My job is to translate this story into characters, situations, stories. So I waited until the end, when I had finished the whole album, then I looked at the songs individually and looked for the fabric that connected all the pieces. They are all about characters in transition, between life and death, between illness and love, between relationships, all looking for a bridge to a secure future, to a happier place perhaps. And of course the whole world is in this situation, we are in the middle of a pandemic, we are in the middle of a climate crisis, a political crisis, we are all looking for a safe place. ”

For Sting, the stage is certainly one of those safe places, so much so that he has hit the road again, especially in Europe, but also in Las Vegas, where he has just done a series of eight residency shows at Caesars Palace. . “I’m going back in June, and probably also in October, and I have to say I had a lot more fun than expected,” says the singer-songwriter. I wasn’t sure who I was going to play in front of, but to my surprise – to my delight! -, I realized that I was performing in front of an enthusiastic audience who knew my songs, who loved my work and who were blown away by the visual representation of the songs. It’s a very visual spectacle, which was new to me. So, it was very exciting. ”

Sting does not reject the idea of ​​continuing the experiment in Las Vegas, if the demand is there: “As long as you sell tickets, they will continue to invite you, he admits, lucid. But I don’t see myself ending up in Vegas; you know, it’s kind of like an elephant graveyard! But as long as it’s fun, I think I’ll keep doing it. ”

Rock

The Bridge

Sting

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP