STING : MY SONGS

Disc One (81:51)

1. Brand New Day
2. Desert Rose
3. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
4. Every Breath You Take
5. Demolition Man
6. Can't Stand Losing You
7. Fields Of Gold
8. So Lonely
9. Shape Of My Heart
10. Message In A Bottle
11. Fragile
12. Walking On The Moon
13. Englishman In New York
14. If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
15. Roxanne
16. Synchronicity II
17. Next To You
18. Spirits In The Material World
19. Fragile
20. I Can't Stop Thinking About You

Disc Two (52:28)

1. Introduction / Message In A Bottle
2. Englishman In New York
3. Brand New Day
4. Wrapped Around Your Finger
5. Seven Days
6. King Of Pain
7. So Lonely
8. Desert Rose
9. Every Breath You Take
10. Russians
11. Fragile

Label : A&M Records

Release Date : October 4, 2019

Review (AllMusic) : They're his songs, so he can do whatever he wants with them. That seems to be the idea behind My Songs, a 2019 collection where Sting decides to revisit 15 of his most famous songs and tweak them for modern audiences. The inspiration behind the project was an updated version of "Brand New Day," which he reworked at the end of 2018 not only so it'd have a shiny new arrangement for a New Year's Eve gig, but so the track could slide between Ariana Grande hits on a playlist. Happy with the results, he turned his attention to Sting and Police songs you know by heart, re-recording a few chestnuts outright, but usually satisfying his muse by stripping away old studio effects, swapping out lead vocals, and adding instruments and vocal harmonies along with numerous other minute but discernable changes. Apart from perhaps "Demolition Man," which is now awash with Hendrixian waves of guitar, none of the songs are turned inside-out: not only does the overall feel remain the same, but so do the basic arrangements. That doesn't mean the alterations on My Songs are unnoticeable; far from it, in fact. Sting's heavy hand is evident throughout My Songs. When he revisits the Police, it's hard to ignore how the contributions of Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are either absent or muted, just like how it's impossible not to notice that the new vocals sound scraggly and weathered, not spry. Whether it's the early "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," or the relatively recent "Brand New Day," the solo hits are awash with funk guitars and electronic rhythms suitable for an upscale mall. Of the two approaches, the latter could conceivably be called modern, but it can't be called fresh, which highlights the mystery at the core of My Songs. Despite the sometimes-jarring changes, the versions on My Songs still sound like the old tunes, raising the question of why Sting even bothered with this project.

Review (Wikipedia) : My Songs is the fourteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Sting and his second studio album to feature new renditions of previously released material (after 2010's Symphonicities). The album was released on 24 May 2019. The album features fifteen reworked versions of a selection of Sting's most widely recognised songs from across his career. Via his social media outlets, Sting described the new versions of the songs as being "reconstructed", "refitted" and "reframed", but "with a contemporary focus". Some songs on the album have been remixed using elements of the original tracks, while others are complete re-recordings. A remixed version of "Brand New Day" produced for My Songs was released on 31 December 2018. This version was first performed live in Times Square on the same day. A remixed version of "Desert Rose" and a newly recorded version of "Demolition Man" were made available to download on 28 March 2019. The My Songs tour commenced on 28 May 2019 in Paris.

Review (Paste Magazine) : There is only one word to sum up Sting's My Songs. Baffling. It's not the album is bad.it's hard to ruin songs that are already brilliant, hard as Sting might try in some cases, it's just that there's no reason for this album. Every song on here already exists, and the addition of a drum machine and the stripping of the elaborate instrumentations that made songs like "Brand New Day" good in the first place does very little to warrant this album's existence. You cannot improve "Message in a Bottle" and there is no need to even try. It's perfect. In Sting's own words: Wait a minute, wait a minute, baby, wait a minute. At least "Roxanne" - outdated as it is - is a live version, applause and all. Variations there are acceptable; they're a little more raw and we accept that they might be a slower tempo or lack the harmonies present in a studio full of musicians and producers doing take after take, but even the studio versions have the raspiness of an end-tour live version, only made small and squished. Was this rushed, out-of-breath rendition of "Brand New Day" the best take you could come up with? He fucked with "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You." I take that as a personal insult. And for some reason he pronounces "progress" as "po-gress." Is this code? Do you need help, Sting? What can we do to rescue you? "Desert Rose" is the song that could use the most remixing for a modern reissue - getting someone other than the monstrous Cheb Mami to sing backing vocals, Shaggy, perhaps - but instead, we get a vocal-forward remix that would not have sounded out of place on your mom's friend Debra's well-worn Pure Moods CD, barely distinguishable from the original except for some slight tweaking on the mix. Holy shit, the disco remix of "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free." It's different, at least, so points for creativity, but by the tenth time you hear the background singers chirp "Free free, set them free" over the first verse, you want to set yourself free of this nightmare. I'm honestly surprised he didn't include a solo version of "Sending Our Love Down the Well" from The Simpsons. The chronically misunderstood stalker anthem "Every Breath You Take" gets a decent treatment, just Sting, sounding a little more awake, that iconic guitar line a little muted into the mix. It's surprisingly intimate, almost like Sting is inside your living room, singing to you while you discreetly text the cops. On the whole, My Songs is a hysterical act of unfiltered hubris. If you are a fan of Sting-yes, even his album with Shaggy-then you're just going to be confused and irritated. If this is your first Sting album, you might be disappointed when you go back and listen to the originals. As variants, they would be interesting to listen to as a piece of a box set, but there is absolutely no reason to listen to these on their own, with the possible exception of "Roxanne." If you want to listen to "Walking On the Moon," go listen to it on Regatta de Blanc. It's that simple.

Review : This is the Japanese special edition.