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Dec 17, 2014 Web Exclusive By Lily Moayeri

For the casual music appreciator, Simple Minds are a one-hit wonder who hit their peak with the ultimate movie ending song for The Breakfast Club with “Don’t You Forget About Me.” For the dedicated music fan and many a musician, however, Simple Minds are seminal and influential. The Scottish group has been releasing music for 35 years, sticking to its art-rock/New Wave sound throughout various musical trends over the years.

On their 16th full-length, Big Music, Simple Minds take the title of their album to heart. Writing with Iain Cook of CHVRCHES and using the multiple producer tactic, the core members of the group, vocalist Jim Kerr and keyboardist/guitarist Charlie Burchill, pull out all the stops by enlisting hit-heavy producers Steve Osborne and Andy Wright.

Sounding like a cross between the synthesizer pop of Erasure and the stadium anthems of U2, Big Music could have been released in the late ‘80s and stayed at the top of the international charts. “Honest Town,” with its earnest vocal delivery and percolating chord progression harks back to Simple Minds’ earliest work, while the title track has a hard-rock-band-turned-adult-oriented-rock grandiosity. In other instances, such as on “Blood Diamonds” the synths get a little too echo-y and the track loses some of Big Music‘s overall slickness. Their cover version of The Call’s charged “Let the Day Begin” sums up the big arena sound Simple Minds were aiming for on Big Music. They probably won’t hit those venues, but the effort is admirable. (www.simpleminds.com)

Author rating: 5.5/10