If Sting and Shaggy working together is the answer, what the hell is the question? Having been accused of adopting a dodgy Jamaican accent across his career, here former Police man Sting gives it the full lilting vowels and mentions of Bob Marley seemingly without irony.
Shaggy’s shtick has always been endearingly emphatic and his effervescent presence ensures that there are several pop nuggets amongst one of the weirdest collaborations ever undertaken.
The irony of the tantric bore appearing on a song called ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’ is delicious, even if 66-year- old Sexy Sting is about as arousing as a cabinet meeting.
‘Morning Is Coming’ is a buoyant bit of radio-friendly reggae and ‘Dreaming In The U.S.A.’ nods to Springsteen in its tribute to the land of the free. Shaggy’s philosophical take on romance is quite something, telling the woman he’s pursuing “there is more to me than just getting it.”
‘44/876’ is like a hilarious fever dream somehow brought to life. Not entirely awful.
4/10
Words: Gareth James
Dig it? Dig deeper: Inner Circle, Big Mountain, Maxi Priest
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