Sting has confirmed plans to return this fall with a new solo album titled If On a Winter’s Night…
The October 27th album, inspired by what Sting calls his favorite season, will feature two original compositions along with carols, lullabies and traditional songs from the British Isles.
“The theme of winter is rich in inspiration and material,” Sting said. “By filtering all of these disparate styles into one album I hope we have created something refreshing and new.”
The two Sting songs on the disc are called “Lullaby for an Anxious Child” and “The Hounds of Winter,” and both have been previously released (”Hounds” is the opening track of his 1996 solo album Mercury Falling). Other tracks include the 14th century carol “Gabriel’s Message,” the traditional ballad “The Snow it Melts the Soonest,” Henry Purcell’s “Now Winter Comes Slowly” and an English reworking of Schubert’s “Der Leiermann” now called “Hurdy Gurdy Man.”
Although it is not being promoted as a typical Christmas album, If On a Winter’s Night… seems primed to grab a slice of the huge holiday sales that albums like Josh Groban’s Noel scored in the past. The record is Sting first since 2006’s Songs from the Labyrinth, which was an album of songs originally composed by John Dowland.
Sting’s last album of original material was 2003’s Sacred Love. The Police wrapped up its reunion tour in August 2008 at New York’s Madison Square Garden and there has been no word of future dates for the trio.
