I Can't Stop Thinking About You

After a 13 year wait, we finally have the new single from Sting- I Can't Stop Thinking About You.  On the plus side, it's upbeat, it doesn't sound anything like his last two albums, and it's not a sappy love song [1].  The essential band members Dominic and  Vinnie are present, although David's keys are gone. [2] Musically, this seems like a progression of 2005's Broken Music Tour, all done on strings with the addition of a second guitar, now worked into new material.  Given the presence of Josh Freese on the album, I wonder if some of this didn't originate in those sessions. In terms of tempo, Thinking fits alongside Next To You, which Sting rediscovered for the 2005 tour. Lyrically, this track exists along with If I Ever Lose My Faith in You and contains similar imagery to tracks from Mercury Falling, particularly The Hounds of Winter and the style of 25 to Midnight.  Theological considerations similar to All This Time can also be discerned. Sting's music has always struck me as more relevant in the fall and winter (with, perhaps, The Police more compatible with Summer) and here Sting continues his exploration of an existential lack in relation to winter.  Just this week I was, through an event of synchronicity, thinking about the book The Heart of a Lonely Hunter, which gets worked into the lyrics, and always seems to make a good metaphor. This track suggest that the new album will not have the layered sonic complexity of his masterpiece albums (Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages), or their refined lyrics.  But it is a good reboot, ending the overproduced yet flat sound and writing of the last two albums, and the non-rock endeavors of his last four releases.  It is a good indicator of Sting 3.0, and that might be the best thing to come from this return to the world, out of the hyper-esoteric and eccentric desert of the last decade.

[1] Unlike something like Whenever I Say Your Name
[2] The keyboards - particularly David's - were noticeably absent on the 2016.08.31 performance of All This Time.  Hopefully the tour will feature the re-inclusion of David (and Jo and Peter) to fully perform tracks from other albums.  Although, as mentioned, he got by on the Broken Music Tour and might try something different .