Album review: Pope Francis makes a play for the charts

Wake Up!

Pope Francis

Believe digital

Two and a half stars

He’s a global pin-up who fills stadiums and thrills fans. And now Pope Francis has released what is, essentially, a rock album.

He doesn’t sing, but the pontiff who has energised millions of Roman Catholics with his vision of a compassionate, socially-committed church lends his voice to an album of spiritual spoken-word Euro-rock.

Wake Up! mixes excerpts from the pope's speeches, homilies and prayers with Christian hymns that have been reworked by modern composers to include dollops of everything from Gregorian chant to rock guitar.

Francis’s words – in Spanish, Italian, English and Portuguese, with a booklet of translations – touch on key themes of his papacy: youth, the environment, the joy of faith and the degrading effects of consumerism.

The musical settings take in Pan pipes, sinuous beats and a veritable tsunami of synth. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge and clearly the work of many hands, with credits for more than half a dozen composers and arrangers, as well as artistic director Don Giulio Neroni.

The mix is at its most arresting on the lead single – yes, Francis is a pope who releases singles – Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward! The track sets the pope's exhortation to embrace "the beauty of holiness" amid wailing guitar licks and rousing trumpet bursts.

If that sounds odd, it is. At times Wake Up! feels like a 1980s middle-of-the-road (MOR) rock album interrupted by soft-spoken spiritual musings. Either way, the release shouldn't tarnish his already sterling reputation.

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Dubai Creek Open in numbers

The Dubai Creek Open is the 10th tournament on this year's Mena Tour
It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
This week's field comprises 120 players, 21 of which are amateurs
15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club

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The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

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Changing visa rules

For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.

Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.

It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.

The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.

The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.

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Day 1, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Sadeera Samarawickrama set pulses racing with his strokeplay on his introduction to Test cricket. It reached a feverish peak when he stepped down the wicket and launched Yasir Shah, who many regard as the world’s leading spinner, back over his head for six. No matter that he was out soon after: it felt as though the future had arrived.

Stat of the day - 5 The last time Sri Lanka played a Test in Dubai – they won here in 2013 – they had four players in their XI who were known as wicketkeepers. This time they have gone one better. Each of Dinesh Chandimal, Kaushal Silva, Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella – the nominated gloveman here – can keep wicket.

The verdict Sri Lanka want to make history by becoming the first team to beat Pakistan in a full Test series in the UAE. They could not have made a better start, first by winning the toss, then by scoring freely on an easy-paced pitch. The fact Yasir Shah found some turn on Day 1, too, will have interested their own spin bowlers.