Simple Minds started off in Glasgow way back in 1977, which means that the group's two longtime members, singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill, are about to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They're on the short list of acts that I've written about in both of my columns The Number Ones and The Alternative Number Ones, and they're still going.
Next week, Kerr and Burchill will publish their joint memoir Our Secrets Are The Same. That must mean it's a good time to announce a new album. Early next year, Simple Minds will follow upu 2022's Direction Of The Heart with their new one Sacrosanct. Kerr says that the brooding lead single "Beginner Boys" is about watching his grandsons grow up, "how strength, tenderness, courage, and gentleness might still belong together, even when the wider culture around them can send mixed signals. It’s less a statement than a question I hope they’ll spend their lives answering for themselves." That's cool. We need more songs about people's grandkids. Check it out below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Elysium"
02 "King Of The Underworld"
03 "Beginner Boys"
04 "Jerusalem (State Of Mind)"
05 "Our Secrets Are The Same"
06 "Songs"
07 "Alive In This Moment"
08 "The Next Right Thing"
Sacrosanct is out 1/29 on BMG. Pre-order it here.
