Zenyatta Mondatta

About

In hindsight, it’s clear that 1980’s <i>Zenyatta Mondatta</i> was a sonic inflection point for The Police, an album that was a bridge between their days as a taut punk- and reggae-influenced band and their later, more adventurous tendencie. This was evident from the very first song on the album, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” The tune starts with an ominous droning keyboard, incorporates dramatic dynamic, and boasts a guitar synthesizer in the bridge played by Andy Summer. “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” which later won a Grammy and reached No. 1 in the UK, also featured one of vocalist-bassist Sting’s most striking protagonists to date: a teacher full of guilt and shame for being in love with a student, much like the lead character in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel <i>Lolita</i>. As with other Police album, however, <i>Zenyatta Mondatta</i> was sonically eclectic, wrapping in a mix of instrumentals (“The Other Way of Stopping”) with quirky New Wave pop (“Canary in a Coalmine,” a clever song about someone living an anxious life) and reggae-influenced rock (“De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”) with a dash of jazzy panache courtesy of drummer Stewart Copeland (“When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”). The band’s weirdness was also present and accounted for; the instrumental “Behind My Camel” is as ominous as a horror movie interstitial, while “Shadows in the Rain” is murky dub. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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