Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart
Simple Minds return with their 19th studio album and what an album it is. Written in various locations during covid including Italy, Germany and the UK. The album opens with the extremely popular Vision Thing, having had a few live airings over the last tour was received well, the song dedicated to Jim Kerr’s late father, the perfect opening track on this album. It looks back to the singer’s youth and his dad’s version of him, sliding them together to create this beautiful song. The latest single, First You Jump, has an 80’s edge with a dark feeling coming through the vocals, mingling with the edgy guitar riffs from Charlie Burchill brings this song to life, a fascinating song in keeping with the bands past styles, a positive single for the band. Continuing with the heavy 80’s influenced sound in the excellent track Human Traffic, with cameo vocals from the Sparks Russell Mael, a standout track fused with a more commercial sound compared with previous songs. Who Killed Truth? Stands out with its Celtic feel with stunning vocals from Sarah Brown, brings this powerful masterpiece of a song to life.
Solstice Kiss, a slightly mellower song from the band, with its delicate layers, delivers a track filled with emotion and power, with a lighter feel to that of the 80’s influenced songs. The inclusion on this album of Act of Love, the first single played live way back in 1977 is powerful, capturing the essence of the music back in the 70’s. In the present day, this polished production of a track written 40 years ago is excellent, bringing it once again to life on this remarkable album from Simple Minds.
Natural is a beautiful catchy song, filled with big synths and powerful chorus sits perfectly with the big Simple Minds anthems of the past. The band show their hands with the electro rock masterpiece in the amazing Planet Zero, a track that has everything you could imagine from the rocker side of Simple Minds and a whole lot more. Charlie Burchill shines in his glory with excellent guitar melodies. The album finishes off with an excellent cover of The Call’s The Walls Come Down, bringing an already outstanding album to a close.
On the first listen you will have your standout songs, a few more spins on the turntable and you’ll have an album that slides right between Sons of Fascination and the legendary New Gold Dream. Simple Minds have emerged from the dark days of covid with an album that highlights their glory years with combined life experiences, ultimately bringing the music of Simple Minds to life on this excellent new album Direction of the Heart. An absolute must for everyone’s album collection. Album is released on the 21st of October 2022
Reviewed by James Edmond