Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Simple Minds, BMG Music 2022.
Simple Minds are back with their first new album since 2018’s U.K. top 5 Walk Between Worlds.
Vision Thing is the initial single to be lifted from their up-coming 18th studio album Direction Of The Heart which is slated for release on 21 October.
The two remaining original members of Simple Minds, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill are still the main writers and driving force behind the band and Vision Thing is a classic Simple Minds track.
It opens with pounding drums that herald in the band’s classic washes of synths and those trademark guitar lines from Burchill before Kerr’s instantly recognisable voice joins the assembly.
Burchill wrote the music while Kerr did the lyrics and the song is a tribute to Kerr’s late father, his “best pal”.
Most of the tracks for Direction Of The Heart were written and demoed in Sicily where Burchill and Kerr live.
Neither were able to return to the UK due to COVID restrictions and thus the album was recorded in Hamburg, Germany.
It was produced by Burchill and Kerr with the assistance of Andy Wright (Massive Attack, Echo & The Bunnymen) and Gavin Goldberg (Simply Red, K.T. Tunstall).
While Burchill and Kerr laid down the basic tracks in Germany, the other Simple Minds band members and guests recorded their parts separately in London studios or in their home studios.
Although Simple Minds have not been heading the charts in recent years they seem to be currently going through a renaissance.
They’ve received Q Awards, Lifetime Achievement Awards, and their 2015 album, Big Music was described by MOJO Magazine as “their best album in 30 years!”
Likewise Walk Between Worlds has been their biggest sell album in the last 20 years so despite multiple line-up changes Simple Minds still have what it takes.
Simple Minds are known for their anthemic songs and Vision Thing doesn’t disappoint.
It’s a big stadium anthem and a celebration of a life well lived.
As a taste of what is to come it’s certainly whetted the appetite for the new album.
