Arriving swiftly after 2018's
Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John
, 2019's
Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police
amounts to the second chapter in a musical autobiography for the rocker. If
Olivia Newton-John
amounted to
Hatfield
's first musical love,
the Police
are the pivotal band of her teens, a group that accelerated her interest in rock & roll. Appropriately,
isn't as sweet or dreamy as
.
emphasizes the group's connection to punk and New Wave, both through song selection and arrangement. While
Sings the Police
hardly avoids hits, it does contain such B-sides as "Landlord" and a host of deep cuts, ranging from "Hungry for You (J'aurais Toujours Faim De Toi)" to "Murder by Numbers." Crucially,
's D.I.Y. aesthetic means she builds each track with drum machines, flanged guitars, and double-tracked harmonies, decisions that give the album a primitive yet futuristic edge. Often, this choice means her versions sound more New Wave than
originals: "Next to You" pulsates to a controlled, stylish beat, "Every Breath You Take" is stripped of its signature riff and given a bit of a dark bounce, "Roxanne" finds
punctuating its melody with squalls of distorted guitar. A few numbers adhere closely to the original arrangements -- "Canary in a Coalmine" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da," both notably from
Zenyatta Mondatta
, hit the same emotional notes -- but they serve as musical guideposts illuminating how the rest of the record offers clever and loving subversions of a familiar catalog. In
's hands, the songs of
Sting
and
don't necessarily sound like hits -- nor are they performed with the technical proficiency of
Andy Summers
Stewart Copeland
-- but they sound fresh and alive, once again feeling like punk-inspired pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine