SymphonicitiesSTING

Symphonicities

[Deutsche Grammophon]

The last several years have seen Sting giving fans exactly what they wanted—a reunion tour from his former group, the Police. But in the studio, he’s given fans a few things they didn’t ask for—namely, one album of 16th-century lute-based songs and another of winter-themed madrigals. Now he splits the difference with Symphonicities, which presents selections from his considerable songbook—including hits like “Roxanne” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”—in orchestral arrangements. Those songs are thankfully joined in the set list by some of the finest hidden gems of his catalog, such as “The End of the Game” and “The Pirate’s Bride.”

Sting puts a twist on the rocker-goes-orchestral formula by focusing on several of his most raucous rock numbers. The Police’s “Next to You” kicks off the album with a jolt, the New York Chamber Consort laying into the number with aplomb. Later, the jokey “She’s Too Good for Me” gets a similar treatment. The proceedings are further livened by the presence of percussion and guitar, but Symphonicities finally can’t help but get a little sleepy. The world didn’t need yet another version of “Roxanne” to begin with, and this one never gets its groove on. The Police and Sting’s mid-1980s solo band used to build “I Burn for You” to a furious crescendo, but here it only simmers. Symphonicities has its pleasures, but those still holding out for Sting’s first album of new pop material since 2003’s Sacred Love will likely find it at once amusing, illuminating and frustrating. – Chris Neal

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