Simple Minds are back with a new album called Sacrosanct, and the lead track "Beginner Boys" is out now. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill have been running this thing since Glasgow, 1977, which means these two are staring down a full 50 years together. That is wild longevity.
The band that gave us "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and the soaring "Alive And Kicking" back in 1985 never really stopped. They just kept building. From the art-rock churn of early records like Empires And Dance to the arena anthems that defined a decade, Kerr and Burchill have worn plenty of faces.
"Beginner Boys" is a stunner. It carries that widescreen Simple Minds shimmer, the kind that made New Gold Dream such a gem, but it feels present and hungry, not nostalgic.
Fifty years in, most bands are cashing checks on the reunion circuit. These two are still writing new material worth caring about. That is the whole point.