The band’s sound continues heartfully anthemic with a strong dance beat, none more so than on their 18^th studio album, Direction of the Heart.

There is also an ear teasing slipperiness to it: you hear a distant influence and try to identify it before it flies away. And that’s fun. There may fall on the listener’s ear a bit of Roxy Music or Ultravox or Magazine, or even a touch of Madonna. The musical melodrama their old fans appreciate is there. Nonetheless, the Simple Minds sound has at its heart something companionable and young even though Kerr and founding guitarist Charlie Burchill are closer to 70 than to 17!.

Despite most of the album’s songs being conceived under the world-wide burden of COVID, the music on Direction of the Heart is optimistic. As Kerr put it: “How to make a feelgood ‘electro-rock’ record, during the very worst of times? Direction of the Heart is the result of that challenge. Who would have thought we’d have so much fun creating it?”