Sting's Brand New Day presents a carefully crafted array of songs that play smoothly from beginning to end.
It is funny, then, to realize that Sting recently won Grammys in both the "Best Pop Album" and "Best Pop Male Performance" categories. Sting's work is not pop by any stretch of the imagination. It is a blend of many different influences and cannot be categorized with musicians like the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and other pop emblems of today - artists that have yet to make a lasting impression on music and society.
Sting makes this impression. He is continually re-inventing himself and his music, and for the most part is very successful in doing so, from working with the Police on songs like "Roxanne" and "Every Breathe You Take" to his solo work, which produced hits like "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" and "Fields of Gold."
Throughout the years, Sting has proved to be one of the music industry's most versatile songwriters/performers. He re-emphasizes this on his latest album, Brand New Day, which exhibits new innovations including French rap, Arabian wailing, gospel choirs and lyrics of love, happiness, rebirth and transvestites (It's true!). There is a lot going on in this album, and it's a real privilege to hear a musical genius' mind at work.
The album's title track and only single, "Brand New Day," concludes the 10-track record with a bang. Guess artist Stevie Wonder makes an appearance playing harmonica in this uplifting tune of hope and the new century. Sting also employs a full gospel choir on backing vocals that lifts this joyful spirit to new heights.
Before the end of the album, there are nine other tracks to consider. "After the Rain has Fallen" produces a steady rock beat, mixed with the gospel choir, that is reminiscent of 1995's mega-hit "If I Ever Lose my Faith in You."
But the most intense song on the album is "Fill Her Up." To be quite honest, I haven't heard a song like this in a very long time. It is perhaps the most innovate and musically creative song of the last decade, and you can really hear Sting's mind hard at work. Influences run rampant throughout most of his work, and "Fill Her Up" especially illustrates this. The song begins as a homage to the great country western singers who have influenced Sting - a tribute that also appeared in 1997's "I'm So Happy that I Can't Stop Crying." Guest star James Taylor duets with Sting in this new song, singing about a disgruntled gas-station attendant (Sting) who meets a well-to-do big shot (Taylor) in a schnazzy convertible. When the two finish singing, however, the song morphs. After a short bridge, the same gospel choir sings again, abandoning the previous country western airs.
This song should be heard by all, if for no other reason than to hear a mind hard at work.
Sting's Brand New Day is a new dawn in a career that has already witnessed much. In the style of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other greats, Sting has always had a way of re-inventing himself and his music in a new and different manner, while maintaining many of the ideas that made first him famous. Giving him the title of pop-star hardly does him justice; perhaps a new term should be invented. I make a motion for pop-songwriter, musician, thinker, singer, bassist and guitarist extraordinaire. But that's rather long - perhaps just pop genius would suffice.
