Forty years on Simple Minds still have the whole World in their hands
New album is proof that original members Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill can still cut it
‘The songs on that album sit together really well. And you can get through it from top to bottom, we feel. That was the thinking behind this.’
It’s hard to believe that Simple Minds are still going strong after 40 years and are set to release their 19TH studio album next week
But even though the last two surviving members of the band’s original-line-up – singer Jim Kerr and lead guitarist Charlie Burchill – will both hit the big 6-0 in 2019, they’ve certainly no retirement plans.
“When you start you don’t really ever imagine that you’ll last this long,” Burchill told The Beat.
“But by the time you get to this point you realise that this is what you do and this is what defines you. It just becomes what you are
“It’s inconceivable that we would even think about not doing what we do. I know it’s weird – because your age is there to keep on reminding you. And physicality and all that stuff.
“But for us, so far – touch wood – we can deal with touring no problem. We’ve got the energy for it. And we’ve got the passion for the music.”
There’s certainly an abundance of energy and passion on their latest album, Walk Between Worlds, which will be released on February 2.
The new album is really pared down like a razor sharp pencil with its eight songs coming in at a whirlwind 42 minutes.
Charlie explains that it was a conscious decision to make it short and sweet.
“We worked on about 17 or 18 songs for this album. More actually,” Charlie revealed.
“But we’ve felt that you just can’t get through (listening to) albums with 17 tracks on it. It just turns you off, I think, because it’s just too much to take in.
“Originally on the album there was 11 tracks and then quite close to the end of it we said, ‘Listen, let’s strip it down’.
“I think we got it down to nine – and then we took another one out. ‘That’s the album there’. It just felt like to us the eight tracks were our body of work.”
He added: “The songs on that album sit together really well. And you can get through it from top to bottom, we feel. That was the thinking behind this.
“We always talk about it with every album. We say, ‘We should just do (only) eight tracks.’ Albums used to be eight tracks before
CDS and they were great. That’s really what happened with this one.”
Simple Minds have often been compared to our own U2, but Charlie insists that the comparison never irritated him.
“The funny thing about that is we’re nothing like each other when you really think about it. Musically, we’re chalk and cheese,” Charlie pointed out.
“In a way, I can understand what the general comparisons are and, by the way, they’re okay – it’s good company,” he laughed.
“The guys are amazing. They’re brilliant. We’re flattered in a way. But it didn’t bother Jim and I. It meant that we were up there.”
Charlie has fond memories of living in Ireland during the 1980s. “My kids are Irish,” he pointed out proudly, laughing. “They’re Dubs. My two sons were born there.”
Warming to the subject, Charlie (right) added: “It’s home to us really, Ireland. We come from Irish families, in a way, you know? And we lived there. I lived there for a long time, in Dublin. It just feels like home to us.”
Simple Minds’ last gig of 2017 was actually at the Olympia in Dublin.
But while there’s no Irish dates yet confirmed for their 2018 tour, Charlie insists that they’ll “definitely” be playing Ireland in the near future.
He says that the band is itching to get back over to our shores as part of their tour.
“Nearly ever single gig that was done in Ireland carries really special memories – from Phoenix Park to Croke Park, the SFX, everything. The Point when it first opened. The Olympia,” he recalled.
“And they’re always amazing audiences. Everybody, the band and crew, as I think most bands, whenever they get to Ireland there’s a big smile on people’s faces because they know they’re going to have a great time. They know they’re going to really enjoy it. People are going to be so nice.”
The days of packing out 80,000 all-seater stadiums may be long gone for Simple Minds, but Charlie says he prefers playing smaller venues like the aforementioned Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.
“I prefer the intimate ones. To be honest with you, I think a lot of people would prefer to play the smaller venues – but they wouldn’t remind the rewards of the big ones,” Charlie joked, laughing.
It’s a song that’s almost 30 years old now, but Charlie say he still gets chills running down his spine whenever he plays their number one hit single Belfast Child to an Irish audience.
“People just thought it was a beautiful song,” he said.
He’s too modest to say it himself, but Simple
Minds’ fans will be delighted to hear that there’s certainly some great tracks too worth checking out on their new album.
Simple Minds may be going since 1977, but
Walk Between
Worlds proves that there’s still plenty of life left in these old dogs yet.