Hasta La Ideas

L.A. Times music writer Randy Lewis had some fun with the circumstances of a special radio station contest event held Wednesday on the West Coast. It was all designed to showcase Sting’s first pop-rock studio album in more than a decade, titled 57th & 9th, in honor of the intersection he passes on his way to and from his New York music studio. Per Lewis:

Sting in Northridge? Although the music business continues to be a puzzle for many in terms of how to make a living these days, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hold its share of intriguing surprises.

Thus, one of the biggest rock stars in the annals of rock — Sting — materialized Wednesday at Cal State Northridge’s Valley Performing Arts Center, at noon no less (“Good evening!” he said after sauntering on stage, and quickly correcting himself, “Or good morning, I guess”), for a midday preview of new music before a tiny but boisterous crowd of about 300.

Separately, EW’s Madison Vain spoke with the 64-year-old Sting and got some good background on the creative process for the LP:

I do a lot of my thinking on the move and it’s an inspiring city to be in. Pedestrians, the traffic, the noise, the architecture — the scale of New York is very stimulating for the mind. The walks [to and from the studio] are very much a part of the process.

The album comes out Nov. 11.

Previously on FishbowlNY:
Sting, Peter Gabriel and London’s Royal College of Art
The Evolution of Sting and Trudie Styler’s Il Palagio