Eliot Sumner: singer, songwriter, DJ

Music | September 28th, 2016

By Jeannette Chapman

Photo by Nicholas Alan Cope

How do you review a musician with a famous father whose music bears both her stamp and his? I am referring to Eliot Sumner, whose show I previously caught at St. Paul's iconic Turf Club Friday September 25, 2015, and who is coming back Minneapolis, this time at the Skyway Theatre on Tuesday, October 4th.

Sumner is the daughter of Sting (yes, that Sting) a/k/a Gordon Sumner and his wife Trudie Styler. There are distinctions between Sumner's music and that of Sting's; Sumner's voice is deeper and I suspect stronger. Even so, there are enough similarities to make a strong argument for nature versus nurture.

Sumner will be back to support her album Information, which was released in January of this year. She is a prolific songwriter and is also making a name for herself as a DJ, both here in North America and overseas.

I asked if she prefers making music or DJing and unsurprisingly she enjoys both. “I like to think that everything’s 50/50 for me. I put a very equal amount of effort into both things. I really like having two very different projects because it kind of means that I don’t get bored with just doing one thing. But yeah, there’s definitely times when I’m with the band and I think to myself, like, ‘Why do I do that other stuff?’ instead of vice versa because they’re both very enjoyable.”

When I listen to Sumner I hear a storyteller and perhaps this is what reminds me so much of her father. I grew up in the 80s and The Police sang about mystical places and funny sweet relationships I wished one day I would have. They were simple songs that every garage band had in their repertoire and they defined a generation, from “Roxanne” to “Message In A Bottle” to “Every Breath You Take.”

I hear this same quality in Sumner, especially in songs like “What Good Could Ever Come Of This,” a poppy anthem full of keyboards and hooks. Her songs have lots of keyboards and big sounds, which make for high energy live shows that she enjoys almost as much as her audience.

Daughter of a famous father aside, Sumner is a talented musician of her own making and I will be watching to see what she does over the next few years. She is a multi-instrumentalist, plays her dad's bass onstage and is great fun to watch. I am curious to see where she goes from here.

IF YOU GO:

Eliot Sumner and My Jerusalem

Tuesday, October 4, 7pm

Skyway Theatre, 711 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis

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