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Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
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Sting, seen here at a performance in Bucharest, will release 57th & 9th on A&M Records on Nov. 11
(Photo: Andrzej Strzelczyk)After successful forays into symphonic music and musical theater, Sting, a musician of vast breadth, is returning to familiar ground. A&M/Interscope Records will release 57th & 9th, the singer’s first rock/pop project in over a decade, on Nov. 11.
Now available for pre-order, 57th & 9th represents a wide range of Sting’s musical and songwriting styles, from the ferocious, Road Warrior-style imagery of “Petrol Head” to the anthemic “50,000” to the raucous, guitar-driven single “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” which the artist premiered on the radio station KROQ Aug. 31.
The album was recorded with Sting’s longtime collaborators Dominic Miller (guitar) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) and includes contributions from drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, Guns n’ Roses), guitarist Lyle Workman and the San Antonio-based Tex-Mex band The Last Bandoleros.
57th & 9th came together impulsively, said Sting, with sessions completed in just a few weeks.
“It happened very quickly, very spontaneously,” he said. “My idea always is to surprise myself and the people I’m working with—and, hopefully, the listeners.”
The album, produced by Martin Kierszenbaum, takes its title from the Manhattan street corner that Sting crossed each day as he walked to the Hell’s Kitchen studio where the album was recorded. Motion and travel are recurring themes of the album, Sting acknowledged.
“It’s about searching and traveling, the road, that pull of the unknown,” he said. “On this album, we ended up with something that’s energetic and noisy, but also thoughtful.”
The single “I Can’t Stop Thinking About ” is available for streaming now. To hear a preview, click here.
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