Sting has a new album coming out, called The Last Ship. It's his first new music in eight years. He was interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS tonight.
I was a huge Police fan, as are most of us here. His first solo album was a huge departure for him, but being a jazz fan I loved it too. I bought every subsequent release, they were good, then okay, then meh; his last solo album (its name I can't remember, something about winter/Xmas) was so excruciatingly bad I tossed it in the trash (I've only done that with one other purchased piece of music, a disco album by jazz flutist Herbie Mann, about Superman; I should probably be spanked for even purchasing it... :naughty: ).
Anyhoo, Sting told Charlie his well had fully dried up, and he quit writing/recording. He started exploring his past, how his father and grandfather went to the huge, dark shipyard at the end of the street in the British town he grew up in to build ships, watch the ships depart, and start again, and how he didn't want to live his life like that (shades of Liverpool...). He started to think about telling their stories, and suddenly the songs started flowing, fast. He finished the interview by performing a sparse arrangement of one song, and it was good. :handgestures-thumbup:
Personally Sting looked great! He's ~10 years older than me, was wearing a very tight shirt and was obviously in great shape (I've got a video of his writing of a previous album, rehearsing in his castle in Italy and subsisting on the local produce; the mediterranean lifestyle has treated him well...). I hope to be able to hear this album before purchasing it, but right now it looks really promising!
I was a huge Police fan, as are most of us here. His first solo album was a huge departure for him, but being a jazz fan I loved it too. I bought every subsequent release, they were good, then okay, then meh; his last solo album (its name I can't remember, something about winter/Xmas) was so excruciatingly bad I tossed it in the trash (I've only done that with one other purchased piece of music, a disco album by jazz flutist Herbie Mann, about Superman; I should probably be spanked for even purchasing it... :naughty: ).
Anyhoo, Sting told Charlie his well had fully dried up, and he quit writing/recording. He started exploring his past, how his father and grandfather went to the huge, dark shipyard at the end of the street in the British town he grew up in to build ships, watch the ships depart, and start again, and how he didn't want to live his life like that (shades of Liverpool...). He started to think about telling their stories, and suddenly the songs started flowing, fast. He finished the interview by performing a sparse arrangement of one song, and it was good. :handgestures-thumbup:
Personally Sting looked great! He's ~10 years older than me, was wearing a very tight shirt and was obviously in great shape (I've got a video of his writing of a previous album, rehearsing in his castle in Italy and subsisting on the local produce; the mediterranean lifestyle has treated him well...). I hope to be able to hear this album before purchasing it, but right now it looks really promising!