SIMPLE Minds have turned the clock back in style with a stunning new compilation of acoustic versions of some of their most loved songs. From New Gold Dream to Glittering Prize to Don't You Forget About Me, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill have reinterpreted tracks that originally boasted huge production and stripped them back to their bare musical bones, resulting in a record that is an absolute must for fans.
Jim tells me the project was never really planned and that a chance acoustic performance in Switzerland made the penny drop.
“Like every band we had of course performed the odd acoustic thing here and there over the years but we were invited to play an acoustic festival half way up a mountain in Switzerland and we thought 'What the hell, let's do it –it might be fun'. So Charlie and I set about working our way through our catalogue and choosing the tracks that might suit best. Once we got into it we really enjoyed the process and realised that we should maybe do something a bit more concrete with it and decided to turn the project into an actual record."
I put it to Jim that these minimalist takes on Simple Minds songs actually allows the listener to see the simplistic structure hidden beneath songs that were formerly gigantic blown-up epics, wrapped in chrome and decorated to within an inch of their life – now we can uncover the subtleties and at times the very gentle and understated twists and turns contained in anthems such as Alive and Kicking and Sanctify Yourself.
“That's definitely true and you know it's not just the listener that may feel that, it's ourselves too. Especially me who isn't a player. Charlie was playing through some of the songs and I was totally taken by just how direct and simplistic many of them were. I was like 'Is that all that chorus was? Are there really only two chords in that middle eight?'
"So it was a real exercise for us as well to revisit the material and see it for what it was. It was like looking back over old photographs and taking stock of your life so far. We thoroughly enjoyed doing it.”
With so many top-selling records filled with songs that lit up stadiums across the world and across the decades, how did the guys determine which songs deserved this rebirth? It must have been like choosing which members of your family not to invite round for Christmas.
“It was really difficult, that's for sure, and it was more of a tough call deciding which tracks to leave out. We could have spent months deliberating and debating because there were so many songs that could have made the cut. So we just went with our first instincts in the end and stopped ourselves going too deep. Of course I look back now and think why didn't we include this or that.”
That's the problem with having a massive catalogue of hits I suppose but I ask Jim why he didn't include my all-time favourite Simple Minds song, Speed Your Love To Me ?
“Funny, when we started making the acoustic record one of our road crew said 'You have to put Speed Your Love To Me on there or you're mad'. So the good news is that it has been included on the vinyl collector's edition of the album but the reason we left it out of the regular album was because we turned it into a slow, haunting song and we already had enough slow moments on there.
"It is a favourite of mine too. I listened to it again recently and smiled. Of course, the great Kirsty McColl was on backing vocals. So yeah, the new version is out there, you'll just have to buy a turntable.”
The band took time out of recording their new 'proper' album the follow-up to the much lauded Big Music, to deliver this laid-back chapter. Will this diversion affect where the new record goes from here – perhaps since this project was pensive and introspective, the tendency now might be to blow it all up again and throw in the kitchen sink. The storm after the calm?
“I think so," Jim says. "I feel in the mood after the acoustic album to go for the throat again and really attack. It was great to do it and in in a way it kind of draws a line under part of our career. Now we are really committed to making a big record again. I think it was good for us so we're looking forward to getting back into full-on mode again.”
:: Simple Minds Acoustic is released on November 11.
