''The Bridge'' is the fifteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, released on 19 November 2021 through

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. It is his first rock-oriented album in five years, since ''

57th & 9th ''57th & 9th'' is the twelfth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter Sting, his first rock album in 13 years, released on 11 November 2016. The album sold over 600,000 copies worldwide in 2016 and contains " The Empty Chair" which earne ...

'' in 2016.

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

who played saxophone and clarinet on Sting's first four solo albums, also played on this one.

Background

Sting wrote the album "in a year of global pandemic, personal loss, separation, disruption, lockdown and extraordinary social and political turmoil".

Singles

"If It's Love", the first single from the album, was released on 1 September 2021.

Reception

Lakshmi Govindrajan Javeri of ''

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

'' wrote "Sting's new release ''The Bridge'' has a strong pop-rock vibe that defined his Police and early solo years, but some of its best songs have Celtic and jazz influences." Mark Kennedy of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

wrote "''The Bridge'' is a moody and varied collection in an unmoored time, with nods to Scripture, ancient allegories, and malevolent characters. It's a strong album from a singer-songwriter who sees warning signs ahead." Fiona Shepherd of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' wrote "Sting is also in sprightly mood on ''The Bridge'', whistling along on the blithe single If It's Love, as decent a pop tune as he has produced in some time. This lockdown production nods to his diverse musical tastes, from mellow roots track The Book of Numbers with its plangent bass twang to the slick soaring saxophone (from Branford Marsalis no less) on Harmony Road to the fiddle flourish of Captain Bateman, which is revisited as a jazzy scat bonus track called Captain Bateman’s Basement." John Shand at ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' says that the album has Sting "bundling up his established interests in pop, R&B, folk and a dash of jazz – which could also be described as treading musical water", and describes Sting as "an artist who still sounds in his prime." Michael Gallucci of

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

describes the album as "Sting's least fussy and most satisfying album in years."

Track listing

Personnel

*Sting: Vocals, bass *

Dominic Miller Dominic James Miller (born 21 March 1960) is an Argentine-born guitarist. With much of his career as a sideman and guitarist for singer Sting (musician), Sting, he has also released several solo albums. Career Miller was born in Hurlingham, Bue ...

: Guitars *

Martin Kierszenbaum Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fei ...

: Keyboards *Frédéric Renaudin: Synthesizer *

: Saxophone, clarinet *

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having forme ...

: Drums *Gene Noble,

Jo Lawry Jo Lawry is an Australian singer and musician. Lawry's debut album, ''I Want to Be Happy'', was released in 2008. ''Down Beat'' magazine gave it 4.5 out of 5 and selected it as one of the "Best CDs of the 2000s". Music career Jo Lawry was rai ...

, Laila Biali, Melissa Musique: Backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge, The 2021 albums Albums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Sting (musician) albums A&M Records albums