Andy Summers: A New Police Album ‘Would Have Been Amazing’
Plenty of Police fans were disappointed when the group's 2007-08 reunion tour failed to lead into any new music for the band, and guitarist Andy Summers understands how they felt.
"That sure would have been great," Summers told Something Else! when asked about whether the band should have entered the studio after concluding the tour. "I’m sure it’s what a lot of people wished for, but that wasn’t going to happen. It would have been amazing." The sticking point, unsurprisingly, would have been a reluctance on the part of singer, bassist, and chief songwriter Sting. Explained Summers, "I certainly don’t think Sting would have been up for doing something like that -- to be blunt."
The silver lining for Summers was a reawakening to the rock side of his musical personality, which led to the formation of his new band Circa Zero, a collaboration with vocalist Rob Giles. "I think going back out and doing that kind of thing, and having that much fun, doing all of that again -- it sort of spurred me on," he admitted. "I had been writing a lot of songs, anyway."
Initially, Summers explained, he spent a lot of time searching for the right voice. "I was working with a number of singers, and I was enjoying it — but, I think ultimately, there was a little voice in me saying I didn’t have the right singer, the right level of singer. And that’s really when I met Rob. He sang one of the songs, and he just blew it away. I thought: 'OK, this is it.' We had a really good meeting and, basically, after a couple of hours we decided: 'Let’s make a record together. We’ve really got something here.' That was a couple of years ago, and that’s when we started."
And while Summers doesn't deny a certain level of similarity between the Police and the songs on Circa Zero's upcoming album 'Circus Hero,' due March 25, he also argues that it represents an artistic evolution. "It’s definitely expanded from the Police. I think all of the sounds are better. It’s all gotten a lot better, over the years," he maintained. "I play the way I play, but I’m really playing to whatever the song is. I’ve got various sonic capabilities, and there may be echoes of the Police in there, but I don’t try and make every track sound like the Police. I’m not interested in that. I’m more interested in moving, which I’ve done for many years."