Sting returns to the upbeat music that made him a megastar

Sting in Northridge, a suburb of Los Angeles, onstage at noon on a Wednesday? Although the music business continues to be a puzzle for many in terms of how to make a living these days, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hold its share of surprises.

Thus, one of the biggest stars in the annals of rock — Sting — materialized Aug. 31 at Cal State Northridge’s Valley Performing Arts Center, midday no less (“Good evening!” he said after sauntering on stage, and quickly correcting himself, “Or good morning, I guess”), for a preview of new music before a tiny but boisterous crowd of about 300.

He was there to get the word out about the his new album, “57th & 9th,” due out Nov. 11. As part of a media blitz to get fans talking about it, Sting visited the studios of rock standard bearer KROQ-FM that morning for a guest spot, then schlepped to Northridge for a lunchtime show that went out over the air on the campus-based radio station KCSN-FM. An online stream of the performance debuted Sept. 9, archived for viewers at kcsn.org.

Sting, now 65, looks fit as ever. Wearing a leather jacket over a dark T-shirt and black jeans, he took the stage looking relaxed and confident — and ready to rock. His signature shock of hair looks a more natural shade of brown than the dyed-blond style he favored fronting the Police in the late 1970s and ’80s. Also gone is the hirsute look he had sometimes worn in the last couple of decades — his chiseled jawline no longer camouflaged by stubble or beard.

Over the course of a tight 25-minute set, backed by a rock trio and four male backup singers, he premiered a couple of new songs, including the album’s first single, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You.” Introducing him, program director Sky Daniels described it as “an exciting blast of exuberance.”

The new songs illustrate his undiminished skill at crafting instantly memorable lyric and melodic hooks. Even on what was a first listen for most in the house, Sting successfully urged them to sing along with the songs’ repeated refrains.

His driving goal in music, he said, is to maintain “the element of surprise.” It’s a goal he often achieves with compositional techniques that sustain tension for extended periods before reaching their structural resolutions.

“This album will surprise you,” he said. “That’s absolutely vital for me.”

His live performance finds him working again in energetically propulsive rock, a vein of upbeat music that brought him to the heights of stardom along with the Police, rather than what he described as “more esoteric” settings, such as his 2006 album of 16th-century lute music, “Songs From the Labyrinth.”

“My record company said, ‘What?!’” he told the Northridge audience, which included contest winners. “But ‘Songs From the Labyrinth’ did sell a million, I remind them.”

Along with the samples from “57th & 9th,” named for the location of the New York recording studio where he recorded the work, Sting fed the fans a few Police and solo hits: “Message in a Bottle,” “All This Time” and a song that now sounds like a prescient description of smartphone-era concert-going: “Every Breath You Take” (“every move you make … every step you take, I’ll be watching you”).

After a European tour this summer, and his concert in Honolulu today, Sting will take the stage at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 20, shortly after his new album is released.

At the awards show, broadcast on ABC, the icon will receive the American Music Award of Merit in recognition for his successful career. Other recipients include Michael Jackson, Prince, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston and Paul McCartney.

He’ll also perform a medley of his hits, old and new, including “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.