Sting - The Bridge (1LP)

Sting begins each day with a swim. “A religious morning ritual for me,” is how he describes it. “It’s hydrotherapy.”

“There’s a whole lot of water flowing through this album,” he says about the 14 brand new songs that form the body of work he’s christened The Bridge. “All of the songs on the album are bridged by people being between worlds,” the musician continues.

Here, then, is another bridge: as well as pushing elegantly forward, this is an album that intriguingly stretches backwards, showcasing the many different stages and genres through which Sting has journeyed in an unparalleled career. The Bridge feels like a greatest hits, but one where all the songs are brand new. A record that is at once modern and upbeat but rooted in Sting’s lifelong musical and lyrical passions.

As he puts it: “These songs are between one place and another, between one state of mind and another, between life and death, between relationships. Between pandemics, and between eras – politically, socially and psychologically, all of us are in the middle of something. We need a bridge.”

Sting recorded the album over the last year with a coterie of trusted musicians beaming into his studio remotely.

1. Rushing Water

2. If It’s Love

3. The Book of Numbers

4. Loving You

5. Harmony Road

6. For Her Love

7. The Hills on the Border

8. Captain Bateman

9. The Bells of St. Thomas

10. The Bridge