Simple Minds have released their 18th studio album, and just when no one except for hardcore fans did not expect anything besides formulaic music, they managed to pleasantly surprise me. I must admit they sound incredibly fresh, even some younger bands could steal few ideas from them.
Walk Between Worlds gives the impression of industrious work, and looking at the history of some of the songs, we can observe that this hard work has been going on for more than two decades. Barrowland Star owes its instrumental to Celtic Strings, b-side of the 1995 single She's A River. Numerous other tracks are leftovers that did not find a place on Jim Kerr's solo record Lostboy!
While the first single Magic opens the album weakly and uninspiring, the following Summer compensates for the anemic introduction. Robust and determined bass leads the number to the chorus where Jim finally lets his sparkly baritone radiate to the maximum. Here comes all those energies, making me born again, sings Kerr and truly sounds reborn. The Signal and The Noise continues in the same fashion with new wave melody supported by synths and rhythm section of gods. Previously mentioned Barrowland Star contains everything we can expect from one Simple Minds song - shiny power pop rock melody with a sprinkle of mystery and anthemic chorus. String orchestration in title track Walk Between Worlds is emphasized by grandiose intro and outro.
In Dreams is suffused with female back vocals, and closing number Sense of Discovery brings Alive and Kicking to mind. Simple mind. I am glad to hear that the stars of the 80s gave their music a shot of modernity.
