Stewart Copeland, acclaimed composer and drummer/founder of The Police, has released a new reimagined take on “Message In A Bottle” from his upcoming album, Police Deranged for Orchestra, due out June 23rd via Shelter/BMG.
“Message In A Bottle” follows “Every Breath You Take” as the second preview of Police Deranged for Orchestra, a project that began in 2021 as an evening concert featuring The Police’s biggest hits arranged for full symphony orchestra plus some highlights from Copeland’s own work as a composer. Copeland later continued his “derangement” of The Police’s music to use as the score of a movie he made out of his Super8 footage from the band’s early days. He ended up recording the album with a full orchestra and core band comprised of bassist Armand Sabal Lecco (Paul Simon), guitarist Rusty Anderson (Paul McCartney), and vocalists Amy Keys, Carmel Helene, and Ashley Támar. He is currently in the midst of a world tour, performing the new arrangements with the core ensemble and local orchestras in countries around the world. Click below for a full list of tour dates, and visit his website for ticketing details.
After a flute- and bassoon-heavy intro, Copeland’s deranged version of “Message In A Bottle” sounds strikingly similar to the original, which landed The Police their U.K. number one single upon its release in 1979. Copeland’s drumming/percussion is even more of a focal point than in the Police version, but he gets a run for his money from the trio of vocalists Amy Keys, Carmel Helene, and Ashley Támar.
“‘Message In A Bottle’ was like a diamond and I could not mess with it; the form of it is what it has to be,” Copeland said of the track. “I did mess with the orchestration, with the sound textures and so on, but the song itself resisted all of my attempts at de-arrangement. But I did orchestrate the heck out of it.”
Listen to “Message In A Bottle” from Stewart Copeland: Police Deranged for Orchestra below or on your preferred streaming platform, and pre-save and pre-order the album here.
In addition to his new album and tour, Stewart Copeland has a new book coming out this fall, Stewart Copeland’s Police Diaries, based on the diaries he kept between 1976 and 1979 with new commentary and “previously unseen photos from the ‘starving years’ of one of the world’s biggest bands.” Click here for more information and to pre-order the book.
Stewart Copeland – “Message In A Bottle”