His best and most satisfying solo album
09/01/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Brand New Day is Sting's sixth solo studio album, and his firstsince 1996's multi-million selling, Mercury Falling. Almost three and a half years have passed since that release and the anticipation over an album's worth of new material has had all fans tenterhooks since news that he was recording again started to filter through some 12 months ago. Mercury Falling was by no means a bad album, it just seemed to have a lack of songs with the power and hooks of Fortress Around Your Heart, Fragile, Englishman In New York, Mad About You, Fields Of Gold and If I Ever Lose My Faith In You. The songwriting was as good as ever, it sold by the shedload, but the album doesn't appear on many fans list of favourites, including ours. Part of the problem could have been the overall feel of that album - it had everything from gospel choirs to country, from weird time signatures to bossa nova tunes, from the Celtic pipes of Valparaiso to the urgent gallop of I Hung My Head. Whilst Brand New Day actually offers an even wider range of styles and influences, in our view it manages to succeed spectacularly where Mercury Falling sometimes struggled. Despite all the songs dealing with love in one way or another, this is no concept album. Rather, it is a collection of very diverse tracks that happen to share a common theme. A combination of catchy melodies, some terrific lyrics, a little humour and the usual marvellous musicianship and guest cameos, succeed in making Brand New Day a hugely rewarding album.The first track, A Thousand Years starts with a brooding and insistent rhythm with a heart-beat like bass-line. Don't listen to it last thing at night, as you'll be hearing it all night along it's so catchy. If you want a comparison to past material, try mixing Mad About You and Fragile. The lyric reaches back over the last millennium, recounting wars, sadness and uncertainty but with a linking theme of the strength of eternal faith and love. Desert Rose features Algerian rai singer Cheb Mami's Arabic vocals, before Sting's vocal, "I dream of rain / I dream of gardens in the desert sand / I wake in vain / I dream of love as time runs through my hand. What makes this song so spectacular are the combination of the two very different vocal styles, and Sting's phrasing at the end of certain lines (which is reminiscent of a muezzin's call summoning the faithful for prayer) and the overwhelming sense of yearning and passion that permeates the song.The third track, Big Lie, Small World is a smooth and gentle bossa nova, which recounts the tale of a guy who posts his ex-girlfriend a letter telling her how well he is coping since they split up. Of course it's a lie, he misses her still, and the lyric tracks his exploits in trying to recover the letter. Fun lyrics, told with a sense of humour and deceptively catchy, and much better than Mercury Falling's bossa nova effort, La Belle Dame Sans Regrets. After The Rain, should definitely be a single release - instantly likeable, romantic and radio friendly. This is a lush track, with background strings and a great chorus "After the rain has fallen / After the tears have washed your eyes / You'll find that I've take nothing that / Love can't replace in the blink of an eye".The funk of Perfect Love...Gone Wrong mixes rapping (in French), with a lyric from the perspective of a jealous dog who's owner has a new love, a puppy. It sounds horrendous when described on paper, but incredibly it works. Branford Marsalis's saxophone drives the song forwards, and the song rekindles memories of the Blue Turtles tour. You can easily imagine that band performing this song, and having a real blast doing it. Tomorrow We'll See starts deceptively, with more of Branford's saxophone work conjuring up late night, shadowy streets before a haunting bass riff kicks in, and Sting tells a moving tale of transvestite prostitution. More terrific lyrics and a super vocal, "Don't judge me / You could be me in another life / In another set of circumstances / Don't judge me / One more night I'll just have to take my chances / But tomorrow we'll see".The next track, End Of The Game is a hunting story, told from both the perspective of the huntsmen, and then from the foxes being chased. It starts with a short piece of Northumbrian pipes by Kathryn Tickell, before cleverly recycling the chord structure from Everybody Laughed But You. Once again, Sting shows his wonderful storytelling technique in this song.Not being a fan of country music, Fill Her Up - which features James Taylor - was approached with some trepidation, but the track springs two big surprises. Firstly, the simple tale of a gas-pump attendant dreaming of stealing his bosses' cash box and heading west with his girl, manages to be not only fun but also better than I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying. Secondly, it takes a major u-turn half way through when it suddenly becomes an uplifting gospel song...The album ends with the first single Brand New Day. The album version is superior to the radio edit release, being a good couple of minutes longer with the use of the tabla helping give a very Indian feel for the opening and closing sections of the track, and with some additional lyrics, which are in the same vein as those on the single. The song finishes by echoing the first few bars of the A Thousand Years, neatly bringing the album full circle after an enjoyable rollercoaster ride across a world of musical styles and moods.Also worth mentioning is Sting's voice - which has never sounded better - and the production which is crisp and clear, with the bass and vocals well presented. Congratulations to both Kipper and Sting for their efforts on this. It's early days yet of course and the album has yet to stand the test of time. In a year or two it might be possible to look back more objectively. But to these two fans, right here, right now, Sting has just delivered us his finest and most satisfying album."
Thank you Sting for Cheb Mami
01/22/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rai is such a wonderful genre of music! Thank you, Sting, for singing with Cheb Mami and further introducing one of the biggest stars of the Eastern World to the Western. For those who enjoy Cheb Mami, I would suggest listening to more Cheb Mami, of course, as well as Khaled, Faudel, Rachid Taha, Alabina, Hasni, Pierpoljak, amoung others. Rai rules!"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1