Stewart Copeland has gone back into The Police catalog to create a new orchestral album.
Police Deranged for Orchestra, due out June 23rd, sees the drummer rework such classics as "Don’t Stand So Close To Me," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" "King of Pain" and "Roxanne." The album uses arrangements Copeland first worked out when he started playing with various orchestras in 2021.
“What I’ve learned studying these songs for orchestra is that Sting is one heck of a songwriter," says Copeland. "I didn’t pay attention to that back in the day. I was just banging stuff at the back of the stage. All I ever saw was the back of Sting’s head, so I wasn’t really aware what he was singing about. Now, I realize the depth those songs carry, which is down to Andy’s sophisticated contributions too.”
The first track out is his take on "Every Breath You Take." Check out a video for it drawn from the recording sessions on YouTube.
Copeland will do a European tour in support of the album in July. There is one U.S. date, May 19th in Waukegan, Illinois.