The 16th studio album from Scottish stadium rockers Simple Minds, their first release since 2009’s well-received Graffiti Soul, more than lives up to its title. Partly recorded in Grouse Lodge and made with an array of talented collaborators – including co-writer Iain Cook (of Glasgow’s Chvrches) and producers Steve Osbourne, Andy Wright and Steve Hillage – Big Music doesn’t have a dull moment amidst its 12 stompingly loud and anthemic tracks.
While they’ve had various line-up changes over their 37-year career, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill and Mel Gaynor are here joined by keyboardist Andy Gillespie, bassist Ged Grimes and backing vocalists Sarah Brown and Catherine AD (yes, that’s her name). They’re a tight unit and pretty much every song is polished and produced to perfection. Cook’s edgy electro influence is immediately obvious on thumping album opener ‘Blindfolded’, and there’s a lot of synths utilised throughout.
Kerr has always been a master of the big sound. They might be called Simple Minds – as he sings on album closer ‘Spirited Away’, “I’m not a complicated guy/ I like things simple as can be” – but these intricately crafted songs are designed to stick in your head. ‘Blood Diamonds’ will definitely be a live hit: “Once we were lovers/ Once we true as friends/ Once we were blood diamonds to the end.”
Thematically, it’s reminiscent of 1980’s Empires and Dance. The standout moment is emotionally crisp first cut ‘Honest Town’, which sees Kerr reducing the volume on his big voice and reconsidering his hometown of Glasgow in the light of the passing of his mother: “When the light settles down on Honest Town you’ll see/ There’s still something between you and me.”
While it sounds very contemporary, there’s no great sonic reinvention here, and a ballad or two a la ‘Belfast Child’ probably wouldn’t have gone amiss. But Big Music does exactly what it says on the din. Sorry, tin. Simple Minds’ upcoming tour should be awesome.
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