A jazz musician turned pop star and back again, Sting has used his success to promote social, ecological and political causes, but he remains at heart a musician, and music is what he does best. He has also never quite been what you’d call a predictable artist, so his decision to record an album of 16th century songs featuring just voice and lute (and released on a classical music label) shouldn’t come as such a surprise.

As Sting himself admits in the sleeve notes, he has been haunted by the work of Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland ever since being introduced to it by actor John Bird over two decades ago. It has been a slow process – including studying with pianist Katia Labeque, a few low-key live test runs and the intervention of long-time Sting collaborator Dominic Miller - but Sting has finally completed his “tribute” to Dowland, the “melancholy madrigalist” who died in 1626.

Sting’s particular voice is quite appropriate for the poignant strain of Dowland’s compositions, but fans shouldn’t expect anything even remotely akin to his previous work. Far from being a commercial album, Songs From The Labyrinth – featuring the talented Edin Karamazov on lute and archlute and punctuated by several related spoken interludes - is what I’d call an acquired taste, appealing mainly to those whose love for music actually goes beyond superficial lacquers and catchy hooks. Most of the songs are delicate, soothing and, after a few listens, quite captivating, The Battle Galliard being perhaps the finest example here. Beware however of a few tracks that may not be as easy on the ear!

Rating: 3

CD COURTESY OF EXOTIQUE