Walk Between Worlds (album)


Walk Between Worlds is the eighteenth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on 2 February 2018 by BMG Rights Management.

Background

Walk Between Worlds heralded major lineup changes for Simple Minds. After a period of relative stability since the early 2000s, only vocalist Jim Kerr, guitarist Charlie Burchill and bassist Ged Grimes remained from the previous studio album, Big Music.
It was the first album since 2002's Cry without keyboardist Andy Gillespie, who left the band in early 2017. Longtime drummer Mel Gaynor performed on nine of the album's tracks, but left prior to the band's 2018 tour.
Longtime associate Gordon Goudie played acoustic guitar on four songs. Goudie also appeared on the following Simple Minds albums: 2001's Neon Lights, 2002's Cry, 2005's Black & White 050505, 2009's Graffiti Soul, 2016's Acoustic and 2017's Acoustic in Concert. Sarah Brown remains the primary backing vocalist of the band.
Percussionist Cherisse Osei played on three songs and is the official drummer for the 2018 tour. Catherine AD aka The Anchoress provided backing vocals on two songs and was playing keyboards on tour but abruptly left the band during the 2018 tour.
Also returning on the album was Peter-John Vettese, who played piano on two tracks and arranged string orchestra on one song..
Walk Between Worlds was performed in its entirety in February 2018 during seven concerts throughout Europe.

Tracks

After initially appearing as an idea of a melody during the recording sessions for Good News from the Next World and later being recorded for Black & White 050505 as "Fortune Teller", the song was then considered for Graffiti Soul but, again, not released until it was finally rerecorded as "Magic" for Walk Between Worlds. It was premiered on 15 December 2017 on RTL radio in France.
"Summer" was first mentioned in June 2010 by Jim Kerr as a possible track for his second Lostboy! album.
"Utopia" was first mentioned by Jim Kerr in June 2012. Simple Minds were initially considering recording and releasing two separate albums simultaneously. The first album would have been named after this track, Utopia. The second album was going to be called Nostalgia after a track of the same name, "Nostalgia", originally written by Simon Hayward for the second Lostboy! album and recorded at Sphere Recording Studios. This idea was eventually abandoned and the single album Walk Between Worlds was released instead.
"The Signal and the Noise" was initially intended for Big Music as "Signal and the Noise".
An early instrumental version of the song "Barrowland Star" was originally written and recorded in 1994 and already released in 1995 as "Celtic Strings", the B-side for the single "She's a River".
"Sense of Discovery" was also first mentioned in June 2010 by Jim Kerr as a possible track for his second Lostboy! album.
"Silent Kiss" was first mentioned by Jim Kerr and first worked by the band in early January 2016 as a «kind of dark, very romantic» tune «related in style to both "Liaison" and "Bittersweet" from Big Music.»
"Angel Under My Skin" was originally written by Mark Kerr and Erikah Karst during the Cry period and worked on for Black & White 050505 and Graffiti Soul before it was finally recorded and released on Walk Between Worlds.
Written by Ewan McColl, the modern folk song "Dirty Old Town" was made most famous by The Pogues.

Artwork

The album artwork is by Brazilian visual artist Heitor Magno. The front cover image shows a central character bearing an uncanny resemblance to a young Jim Kerr. The album sleeve can also be viewed as a telling throwback to the Sons and Fascination era.

Critical reception

Walk Between Worlds received generally positive reviews from music critics. In the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has a score of a 70 based on 9 selected critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
On 28 January 2018, a few days before its release, Walk Between Worlds was awarded "Album of the Week" by The Times.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill except where noted.

Standard edition

  1. "Magic" – 4:35
  2. "Summer" – 4:57
  3. "Utopia" – 4:14
  4. "The Signal and the Noise" – 5:18
  5. "In Dreams" – 4:15
  6. "Barrowland Star" – 6:25
  7. "Walk Between Worlds" – 5:12
  8. "Sense of Discovery" – 6:26

    Deluxe edition bonus tracks

  10. "Silent Kiss" – 4:57
  11. "Angel Underneath My Skin" – 3:43
  12. "Dirty Old Town" – 4:53

    B Sides

  13. "Direction of the Heart" – 4:23
Durations:

About the tracks

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