On November 19, Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer Sting returns with new album The Bridge through A&M/Interscope/Cherrytree Records. The renowned musician’s 15th studio album has been previewed with lead single “If It’s Love.”
Sting wrote and recorded The Bridge at his home studio while self-quarantining in lockdown over the past years. Contributors, who added remotely, include longtime collaborators guitarist Dominic Miller, drummer Josh Freese, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, drummer Manu Katché, keyboardist Martin Kierszenbaum and Fred Renaudin on synth as well as backing vocalists Melissa Musique, Gene Noble, Jo Lawry and Laila Biali.
Kierszenbaum co-produced all the songs in the LP with Sting besides “Loving You,” which also includes Maya Jane Coles as a co-producer. The first solo Sting album featuring new original music since 2016’s 57th & 9th is due in various formats with an announcement laying out the options:
The Bridge will be released in multiple formats, including standard and deluxe CD and vinyl, Japanese Exclusive standard and deluxe albums, all digital streaming and download platforms, as well as a music cassette. The deluxe CD and vinyl will include bonus tracks “Waters of Tyne,” “Captain Bateman’s Basement,” and “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” Both Japanese exclusives will be on SHM-CD including the additional bonus track “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City,” while the deluxe version will also include a DVD with an interview and track by track discussion with Sting, as well as music videos for “If It’s Love” and “Rushing Water.”
“These songs are between one place and another, between one state of mind and another, between life and death, between relationships,” the English musician explained regarding his new album. “Between pandemics, and between eras – politically, socially and psychologically, all of us are stuck in the middle of something. We need a bridge.”
“If It’s Love” has a retro sound recalling material from Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales era. The lyrics find him comparing the feelings of romance to physical afflictions. “I’m certainly not the first songwriter to equate falling in or out of love with an incurable sickness, nor will I be the last,” Sting said. “’If It’s Love’ is my addition to that canon where the tropes of metaphorical symptoms, diagnosis, and downright incapacity are all familiar enough to make each of us smile ruefully.”
Hear Sting’s “If It’s Love” below:
The Bridge Tracklist
- Rushing Water
- If It’s Love
- The Book of Numbers
- Loving You
- Harmony Road
- For Her Love
- The Hills on the Border
- Captain Bateman
- The Bells of St. Thomas
- The Bridge
- Waters of Tyne (Deluxe bonus track)
- Captain Bateman’s Basement (Deluxe bonus track)
- (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (Deluxe bonus track)
- I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City (Japanese exclusive bonus track)
