{"id":41822,"date":"2009-12-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/if-on-a-winters-night\/"},"modified":"2009-12-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-24T00:00:00","slug":"if-on-a-winters-night","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/if-on-a-winters-night\/","title":{"rendered":"If On A Winter’s Night\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rather than join the cavalcade of pop and rock stars who have recorded Christmas albums, Sting chose to record an album of songs based on his favorite season: the winter. It is a little Christmas-y in spirit, but what stands out to me is that Sting has released a glorious album that you could file under \u201cworld music.\u201d It is full of traditional and original songs that are among his strongest in years. He wisely amassed a group of stellar musicians to bring these gems to life, and his own singing is truly inspired here.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The hardest task for me in reviewing this album is selecting the best of the fifteen songs to talk about because they are all so different and, quite frankly, brilliant, that I don\u2019t really want to leave any out. However, instead of a long and rambling review to cover each song (been there, done that), I\u2019ll keep it short and sweet.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

On songs like \u201cSoul Cake\u201d and \u201cThe Burning Babe,\u201d the record gets as close to pop as it ever does. The expert band delivers inspired, infectious arrangements that fit the mood of the more traditional material really well.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

For obvious reasons, Sting chose to rework his own \u201cThe Hounds Of Winter\u201d (a song that I consider to be his best) into a slower, more morbid (if that\u2019s possible) version that again fits in so well, it sounds ages older than it is. Another gem, \u201cChristmas At Sea\u201d (essentially a duet with co-writer Mary Macmaster), is given a beautifully rich arrangement that, apart from some deft percussion, is an all strings affair, including harps, violins, and several guitars.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Another original song, \u201cLullaby For An Anxious Child\u201d (by Sting and longtime cohort Dominic Miller), is again one of Sting\u2019s strongest songs for years. He weaves a tender poem about the love for a child around gentle groove that works a treat. \u201cThe Hurdy-Gurdy Man\u201d \u2013 not the Donovan song but a traditional German ditty that is just as disturbing \u2013adds some drama into the mix, as does the glorious \u201cCold Song.\u201d\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cGabriel\u2019s Message\u201d is both unique and accessible and finds Sting stretching his talents \u2013 probably more so here than any other song on the record. It was a brave move to use it to open the record, but being the least Sting-like song here, he possibly felt it necessary.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Like I said before, I could have babbled on and on about what a fantastic album this is, but suffice to say, if you\u2019re wanting something different to play at Christmastime, then If On A Winter\u2019s Night\u2026 <\/i>could very well be for you.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6137],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41822","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sting","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41822"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}