In the time since 2022’s top 5 UK album Direction Of The Heart, the band has put out a documentary, published a memoir by Jim Kerr and fellow founding member/guitarist Charlie Burchill, and toured the world. Last year, the band played in front of over 1.5m people and to some of their biggest audiences since 1985.
The North American leg of the tour in 2025 inspired Kerr and Burchill to draw on their art rock and new wave roots after witnessing fans in cities they’d never before played react ecstatically to early songs such as "Sons and Fascination."
Opening track, "Elysium" was named after the paradise of Greek myth, reserved for those who lived well or fought hard and is the natural counterpoint to the album’s "King Of The Underworld," inspired by the figure Mephistopheles and whoever, or whatever, rules over our appetites.
"Jerusalem (State of Mind)" draws on William Blake’s dream of a Jerusalem that was less a city and more a longing for a better world. "Our Secrets Are The Same" directly explores the lifelong bond between Kerr and Burchill, a song about friendship: two eight-year-olds who met on a Glasgow street and are still finishing each other’s sentences 50-odd years on. "Songs" is a celebration of the power of songs to lift you on good days, and pull you out of depression on harder ones when little else can.
"Alive In This Moment" and "The Next Right Thing," explore nostalgia from different perspectives. The former is about resisting the urge to reach back and, instead, to remain present, while the latter focuses on the passing of time and the loss of those we love.
Regarding the choice of album title, Kerr said: “We called the album 'Sacrosanct' because after a lifetime of doing this — nearly 50 years of writing songs together — it’s stopped feeling like a career and started feeling like something closer to faith. Calling the record Sacrosanct isn’t an exaggeration. It’s just honest.”
Sacrosanct is the third album, alongside Walk Between Worlds and Direction of the Heart, in an emphatic trilogy.
"Making records and performing live is as much part of our lives now as when we started out," says Kerr. "We feel grateful to those who support new music from Simple Minds and look forward to seeing you all on our upcoming world tour."
The metalwork on the album artwork comes from a collaboration between Simple Minds and Glasgow-born sculptor Andy Scott, who has reimagined the band's logo in steel (see photo below). Scott was awarded an OBE in this year's King's Birthday Honors for services to sculpture and fine art. A lifelong fan who first saw the band at Glasgow's Tiffany's in 1982, Scott builds his large-scale outdoor works using a distinctive welded assembly technique, composing each form from thousands of hand-cut steel sections. He is best known for The Kelpies, the pair of 30-metre horse heads at Falkirk — the largest equine sculptures in the world.
Sacrosanct coincides with Simple Minds embarking on their biggest arena tour to date, beginning in early February in Australia and New Zealand before heading to Europe and the UK in April and May. Gary Numan and Level 42 open selected dates. Before kicking off the 2027 V tour in Australia, the band will hold a show at City Park, Stirling, Scotland.
American fans can catch the band on Nov. 14 at Darker Waves Festival in Huntington Beach, Calif., alongside Morrissey, Smashing Pumpkins, Psychedelic Furs, Soft Cell, Bad Religion, and many more. Tickets are still available via darkerwavesfest.com.
The memoir from Kerr and Burchill, Our Secrets Are The Same, will be published on September 8.
Everything Is Possible, the 2023 documentary film about the band, featured musicians including Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, and writer Irvine Welsh, reflecting on Simple Minds’ influence and legacy.
Simple Minds are: Jim Kerr (vocals), Charlie Burchill (guitars), Gordy Goudie (acoustic guitar), Ged Grimes (bass), Cherisse Osei (drums), Erik Ljunggren (keyboards) and Sarah Brown (vocals).
Track listing:
Elysium
King Of The Underworld
Beginner Boys
Jerusalem (State Of Mind)
Our Secrets Are The Same
Songs
Alive In This Moment
The Next Right Thing
Photo by Brian Sweeney/Paninaro Magazine, courtesy Big Hassle Media.
George Paul
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