Stewart Copeland, famous drummer and former member of legendary English rock band The Police, released a re-imagining of the group’s greatest hits last week, on August 25th, alongside Indian producer Ricky Kej and a suite of other international artists. Featuring musicians from almost every continent (sorry Oceania and South America), the epic new album retains the same sound the Police brought to the world forty years ago, while the new artists put their own twist on it.
Last releasing an album forty years ago, the Police left people on a cliffhanger, with the brilliance of ‘Synchronicity’ leaving fans thirsting for more. As a result, even to this day, audiences are still ready for more music from the legendary band, a void that the band’s members have tried to fill individually, with lead singer Sting’s solo albums mostly continuing the band’s legacy. Earlier this month, Stewart Copeland, the band’s drummer throughout all their album releases, stepped in to cover some of the band’s greatest hits with Indian producer Ricky Kej. The two had previously worked together on the Grammy-winning release ‘Divine Tides’, and have now created an equally brilliant piece in ‘Police Beyond Borders’, an internationally inspired cover of the best of the Police’s half-decade-long discography.
Calling the new piece eclectic would be a massive understatement, as musicians from America, South Africa, Japan, China, Britain and India line the album, covering classics from the Second British Invasion and beyond. Headlining artists include Armenian-American Serj Tankian, best known for his work with System of a Down, and the ‘Father of Chinese Rock’, Cui Jian. If there’s anything to expect from ‘Police Beyond Borders’, it’s that iconic Police sound that we’ve all gotten used to through these past years, with an epic new twist put on it from some of the world’s most brilliant musicians.
The awesome new album is available to listen to here.
