Sting - Mercury Falling (1996/2022) [ Official Digital Download 24/192]

Mercury is called mercury. Let a drop of it fall – it breaks into many small beads, which then, re-sorted, will again come together into a drop. Let's take "Twenty Five To Midnight", a soul number (slightly perverted by the 7/4 bar) with a middle section in which Sting blends Latin and rock seamlessly to end up back at soul. Or "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets", a Bossa Nova of purest water, the door is about to open and Stan Getz comes in with Astrud Gilberto, but no, Sting starts to sing, and in French so unexpectedly in this context that you think you're in the wrong movie for five minutes, or in two movies at the same time.

Thank God, he still loves the irritation, so the tongue-in-cheek gospel single "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", which would also fit on a Rod Stewart CD, does not need to deter you. In its inconspicuous simplicity, however, it was very much a harbinger: unlike last time on "Him Summoner's Tales", Sting has taken all the placativeness out of his stylistic shenanigans. He no longer jumps from genre to genre, makes rather small, well-measured steps; the shifts are delicate, the twists happen as if by the way, just striking enough for that certain something: rock riffs in 9/8 time "I Hung My Head"), a story from Chile in Irish style ("Valparaiso"), a deeply philosophical text with country music including um-pah bass and sobbing pedal steel guitar ("I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying"), a police-like composition in Motown garb ("You Still Touch Me"). Soul, actually. He rented the Memphis horns for five numbers at once and hides quotes like Easter eggs: here's a shred of the "Soul Man" riff, since the bass figure is from "My Girl" - and where did that harmonic turn come from again, was it Detroit or Memphis?

TRACKLIST

1. Sting - The Hounds Of Winter
2. Sting - I Hung My Head
3. Sting - Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
4. Sting - I Was Brought To My Senses
5. Sting - You Still Touch Me
6. Sting - I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying
7. Sting - All Four Seasons
8. Sting - Twenty Five To Midnight
9. Sting - La Belle Dame Sans Regrets
10. Sting - Valparaiso
11. Sting - Lithium Sunset



Thanks to the Original customer.