Different Stages, Same City

What a weekend this was in New York City! We have the World Cup in town, had an Australian music showcase at the Seaport, the NBA Finals with the Knicks, and tickets to Sting’s The Last Ship at the Metropolitan Opera. The city was buzzing with excitement: yellow shirts for Brazil, red for Morocco, and a sea of blue and orange for the NY Knicks.

If you think you could escape all this madness in an opera house, you’re wrong: I suspect many in the audience looked at their phones as much as at the action on stage, which featured rock legend Sting himself in a tragic yet heroic role. He wrote all the songs, and you can hear his post-Police, jazzier solo phase in them. We thought this was a good opportunity to revisit some of his work for our series, with a focus on The Police. Check out our five songs below.

However, this was not the only major stage music event for us this week. On Thursday, we finally made it to Carnegie Hall for the first time since we moved to NYC to hear Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Metropolitan Opera. Elke and I have never been much into classical music, but we started watching the New Year’s concert in Vienna as a great way to start the new year with hope and joy. This year, Nézet-Séguin was the conductor, and since then, Elke has become a fan.

For me, it was my first time seeing a classical concert, and I was determined to get something out of it. And I did. First, it is fascinating to see how the musicians and the conductor show respect for each other and for the music. Of course, there is a pecking order. For example, the first violinist cannot be bothered to turn the page of the scorebook.

Then there is the music itself. I’ve always loved electronic instruments for their limitless capacity to produce sound, but in the 19th century, when Bruckner lived, a symphonic orchestra was the closest thing to a synthesizer you could get. So while much of the symphony was dominated by typical string, brass, and wind instrument sounds, there were quieter passages where the music became almost unreal.

In 2016, we had the opportunity to see the electronic musician Emika perform her symphony Melanfonie at the Funkhaus in Berlin. There, she did not have an orchestra, but she live-mixed tracks for the original recording with the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra. It is now clearer to me how two musical worlds that seem so strictly separated can overlap and inspire each other.

Discovery of the Week: B of Briz - Song So Good

Bristol’s masked rapper B of Briz creates creative, genre-crossing beats with lyrics that hold nothing back, pointing to the many frustrations we face today. A Lyrical Fash Bash is the title of her new EP, out on September 1. The single, “Song So Good,” sets the tone for the record: “This is, without a doubt, an angry record – but I think it also really gets to the fundamental hopefulness of anti-fascism,” she says.

Cover Song of the Week: Candy Whips - (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang

Candy Whips, the synth-pop project of Californian glamrocker Wendy Stonehenge, covers the debut single by British trio Heaven 17, which the BBC banned for referencing a sitting US president in the context of fascism. The original is 45 years old, but you hear the same rhetoric today (see B of Briz above). Take it with either frustration or relief that our allegedly unprecedented times are not so unprecedented after all.

Five Songs

With five albums in only six years, The Police make a strong case that greatness doesn’t require a vast catalog. Looking at the sheer number of classics packed into those records, the case for their fabulousness is easily made.

Listen to glamglare five songs on Spotify, Apple Music, or below on YouTube.

“Murder by Numbers” (1983)
From their final studio album, Synchronicity, “Every Breath You Take” is probably their ultimate hit. The album also gave us “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “King of Pain,” yet I chose a different track for our Five Songs series.
“Murder by Numbers” closes the album and distinctively showcases Sting’s jazzy side, offering a glimpse of where his musical interests would take him in the years ahead.

“Omegaman” (1981)
Released in 1981, Ghost in the Machine featured major songs such as “Invisible Sun,” but I’ve always had a soft spot for “Omegaman.”
Written by Andy Summers, the track brings an urgent quirkiness and nervous energy that makes it stand out even on an album full of strong material.

“Message in a Bottle” (1979)
Reggatta de Blanc opens with one of the most iconic songs in The Police catalog. Alongside classics such as “Walking on the Moon,” “Message in a Bottle” remains impossible to resist.
Who can say no to “Message in a Bottle”?

“Bring on the Night” (1979)
As much as I love “Message in a Bottle,” the song I will love The Police forever for is “Bring on the Night.”
The urgency of the verse contrasts with the laid-back feel of the chorus, while the dark lyrical content stands in stark contrast to the song’s beautiful atmosphere. It is a combination that still captivates me every time I hear it.

“Hole in My Life” (1978)
Before Synchronicity, before stadiums, and before worldwide superstardom, there was Outlandos d’Amour. The album introduced “Roxanne,” “So Lonely,” and “Can’t Stand Losing You.”
My pick, however, is “Hole in My Life,” which was already my favorite track on the album back then. I love how Sting’s voice can be both piercing and enchanting, and this song showcases both qualities beautifully.

This Week in glamglare history

1 Year Ago: Cass McCombs - Peace

“Peace” is a beautiful single from Cass McCombs’ 2025 album Interior Live Oak. We called it “a quiet, shimmering winner.”

5 Years Ago: Kate Havnevik - Into Dark

Kate Havnevik’s dark, brooding synth-pop song draws inspiration from “people who fake their own death.” It appears on Lightship, her fourth album.

10 Years Ago: Team Picture - Birthday Blues

“Birthday Blues” is the debut single from Leeds indie rock band Team Picture. As an almost instrumental, it challenges the eligibility for a Song Pick of the Day, but hey, what are you not doing for one “of the finest indie rock songs that got released by UK bands” in 2016? Team Picture released their last album so far in 2020.

Song Pick of the Day

Listen to all seven songs on YouTube, or follow our daily updated Song Pick playlists on YouTube, Apple Music, or Spotify.

• Maddie Regent - See Me
• Penelope Isles - Thinking Seat
• Tokyo Tea Room - Eyes Off You
• THAO - Fossils
• Late Again - If You Have A Bridge (I’m Buying)
• THEATRE - Gaudete
• little luna - upward spiral

We publish one Song Pick of the Day every day. You can subscribe to receive them by email.

Nine Photos: Carnegie Hall, Sting, and Summer in the City

New York was buzzing these past few days. Between Carnegie Hall, Sting at the Metropolitan Opera, the World Cup, and a favorite harbor cruise, there was still time to pause and look around. Here are nine snapshots from along the way.

1 - World Cup fever arrives at the Seaport.
2 - Champagne and snacks before our first visit to Carnegie Hall.
3 - The MET Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin perform Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony.
4 - A rainbow over Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.
5 - Our first visit to Carnegie Hall after 25 years in New York.
6 - A closer look at our pre-concert spread.
7 - Velvet Trip from Sydney take the stage at the Seaport for the Aussie BBQ.
8 - Sting in The Last Ship at the Metropolitan Opera.
9 - A favorite summer tradition aboard the W.O. Decker.