The Bridge | Sting back with a new album

(Paris) “How do we get to the other side? »: Sting is back with a new album, The Bridge, metaphor of the momentum to step over adversity.

This Englishman, citizen of the world, particularly badly lived the decision of the United Kingdom to cut the bridges with Europe.

“For me, Brexit is a tragedy. I am sad for my country. We knew it would be a disaster, ”he told AFP, passing through Paris, in the middle of a series of concerts from Athens to Las Vegas.

“Young Britons were robbed of the opportunity to live experiences in Europe. It’s completely insane, ”he still plague.

He who travels the globe from stage to stage also sees the clouds accumulating far beyond the sky of the United Kingdom, with the rise of populist movements.

“We live in a very dangerous political climate at the moment with working classes who feel abandoned by those they call the elites.” The “vulnerable” layers of society are “at the mercy of demagogues”, hawkers of ” fake-news “, Continues the one who celebrated his 70 years in October and is still not his age.

The one who is also an actor (we saw him recently in the French film Kaamelott) does not taste the anti-vaccine tirades. “I don’t understand this science of objection. I did not hesitate to get vaccinated. I’m old enough to remember those kids on my street who were crippled with polio. And this disease has been eradicated thanks to vaccines ”.

” Go away “

Isolation and the pandemic did not directly inspire his new album which comes out on Friday, but they find an echo in the themes discussed.

“All the people I write about are in a transitional stage, in their relationships, between life and death, between sickness and full health.” “We are all looking for that bridge to go somewhere else, to a better place.”

A bridge is also creating links. Even if, in his pieces, the gateways can be tricky in a sentimental story. “I always avoid writing love songs that say ‘I love you and you love me too’ because we’re going around in circles. Whereas “I love you, but you love someone else”, it is an interesting scenario for an author ”.

“At my age, I have experienced the entire spectrum of emotions, from the greatest happiness to the deepest discomfort, so when I write about love, I know that I can be authentic,” continues this musician. to the 100 million albums sold.

A bridge is also what can link generations. Among his six children, five followed the artistic path like him, with two actors, two musicians and a director.

But the latter wants to become “a cop”, said in French with a smile the former leader of the Police. “He says ‘you are all creative, I want to be useful’,” he laughs.

“On the road since 1976! “

A bridge is also a musical term (melodic transition), an art mastered by those who, as in The Bridge, smoothly varies jazz, rock or folk colorings. And music question, was not it too hard to record this new opus in full confinement with musicians sometimes playing by interposed screen?

“It’s not that new to record remotely. Often the drummer can be in Los Angeles, I can be in Paris, another in Italy. The secret is to establish despite everything a kind of intimacy, to have warm bonds between musicians, which one can hear ”.

But now, it’s time for concerts with a very present audience. “I have to fulfill all my commitments postponed by the health crisis, it may take 18 months, but it’s my life, I’ve been on the road since 1976! “. He will therefore still cross many bridges.