Jim Kerr On New Simple Minds Album ‘Direction Of The Heart,’ Maintaining Optimism

With live music off the table for nearly two years, the period of early quarantine amidst pandemic became a creative time for Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, who set to work on the group’s 19th studio album Direction of the Heart. Writing in Sicily with co-founding guitarist Charlie Burchill, the pair crafted a collection of eleven new songs.

“I think having no distractions, I think there’s a level of commitment in the record,” said Kerr. “And we did kick the tires more than perhaps we have in the past. When things started to sound good, it was like, ‘Well, how can we make it great?’ And you don’t always put yourself through that. Whether we made it great or not? Other people can judge. Other people will judge! But it brought a commitment to the record that I think the music has benefited from.”

The new album’s cover art features the juxtaposition of a gas mask set against flowers, finding beauty even amidst uncertainty. The new songs reflect that, maintaining a sense of optimism despite the circumstances from which Direction of the Heart was born.

In addition to the brand new tracks, a few had been kicking around for a bit. “Act of Love” is the very first song Simple Minds ever performed live, finding a home on a new album which ties together 45 years of Simple Minds history.

“If you like Simple Minds, if you like that kind of thing, we dare to say that the record is in a kind of sweet spot, where we managed to, I think, evoke those earlier days,” said Kerr. “You can’t go back – that was then, this is now – but somehow you can evoke and marry to the experience, hopefully, some kind of wisdom or some outlook that we have now, as well as songs that pertain to what’s going on in the backdrop of the world at the moment,” he explained. “That sounds a bit lofty… But that’s what we would like people to think.”

I spoke with Jim Kerr about the optimism that informs Direction of the Heart (now available via BMG in regular and deluxe formats on CD, vinyl or cassette and via streaming services), returning to the stage following a two year layoff and 45 years of Simple Minds. A transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

So I’m curious of the timeline here – I know you and Charlie were able to get together and work together in Sicily. And I know a few of these songs had sort of been kicking around for a bit. Were the rest actually written during quarantine?

JIM KERR: The way we work, it’s not so much that we write for an album. When we’re not touring, we’re always writing. And then when it comes album time, we look in the vaults and we say, “What kind of record are we going to make? Is it gonna be a moody record? Is it going to be a rhythmic record? Or is it going to be more electro?” Obviously, the main thing is still the melodies. But, based on the atmosphere and stuff, we’ll kind of go, “This one. That one.”

A more direct answer to your question is probably about half of the songs really started to take shape during the record, whereas there would have been about three or four that had been kicking around for some time waiting for their moment. We find it quite fascinating sometimes how a song finds its moment – or doesn’t.

A theme I feel like I picked up on listening to Direction of the Heart is that love can kind of overcome anything. It certainly seems to kick off the album in “Vision Thing.” Is it accurate to say that?

JK: It sounds corny. And you want to shy away from saying that. But I guess it is. Even the track on the album that we wrote when we were 18 years old: “Act of Love.” That’s right at the core of what we do. That’s there. There’s no more corny way to describe it, but there’s no truer way. It’s been a vocation. It’s been a dedication. We’ve been god damned blessed to have this life in music, within music. And I think that combined with – not so much a sunny disposition but we are born optimists. You have to be I think to make music – or make music and think anyone is gonna care about it outside of you. And that’s the way we’ve spent our lives.

I get up in the morning every morning thinking, “This is f–ing great, just being alive.” I’m not so sure by midday! But that’s my character. And I have to say, the music I get to work with from the guys, it seems to match what I feel. There is a joyfulness in some of these songs even without the words. And it’s more a question of trying to match the words to what I feel is going on there.

You mention that optimism. It’s there in “First you Jump” – that idea of overcoming these crazy times. Obviously, the album was born out of an uncertain political climate and a pandemic and all of these things. But it still strikes that optimistic chord. How important was that?

JK: Well, I was laughing because the line – and it sort of became more of a quip – but the line that we contributed to the press release, the last line was, “We tried to make a feelgood record in the worst of times.” I realized later that it sounded more like something Mel Brooks would write. But that is what was going on there.

That was pretty mind blowing, the experience of those [quarantine] years. Even now, looking back – although it’s still in the air – it’s hard to imagine some of that stuff went on. But it did. I like the conversation where you go, “Yeah, but what were the good things about it?” Because we all know the bad things. How about some good things?

When we were 18 and 19, all we wanted to do was make music. We’d make it 24 hours a day. There was nothing else in our lives. There was nothing to lose. It was the drug. We just wanted to be in a rehearsal room. And if we had money to pay for a rehearsal room, we would be in there 24 hours a day.

Fast forward… You’re a bit older. You’ve got some money and a nice life. Beaches down there. And you’ve got obligations. You’ve got to see the kids. And you’ve got to see the grandkids. You’ve got to see your broker. You’re just not as committed as you used to be. Anyone who says they are is a f–ing liar.

But… low and behold, when that [pandemic] thing kicked in, there was nothing else to do! You couldn’t even watch football! It was like, “I guess we’ve got to go to work then?” Fortunately, it’s a work that we love. It was great to have this world to escape into.

There are songs on the new album that reflect the times. One that seems to do that, at least in the title, is “Who Killed Truth.” How important was it to strike that tone?

JK: I think it’s a beautiful phrase: who killed truth? It’s almost Shakespearean or something. I know that it has been used in some of the sort of political discourses. And it sort of sums up the dichotomy of where we get our media these days and can you believe anything? You used to be able to say, “It’s sunny outside.” And people would go, “Yeah it is.” And now people say, “I don’t know… You think so? I guess it all depends…”

Getting older, I see it this way – it’s not so much that, “Hey, these are songs with a message.” It’s perhaps songs that are reflecting the questions that are in the air by a lot of people that spend time thinking about these things.

You mentioned “Act of Love.” Thematically, it fits really well with this record. And you stayed pretty true to the original version of it. It’s not radically reworked. In a weird way, does including that song kind of tie together 45 years of Simple Minds?

JK: I think it does. It was quite cute how that came out. “Act of Love” was the very first song we played live at our very first Simple Minds gig in January 1978. When no one knew us. We walked onto the stage to the sound of our own feet. And Charlie hit that riff. I just thought, “We’re going the distance… We’re going the distance here.” Because, even then, it sounded great.

A year later, by the time that we had a record deal, we were bored. We had moved on. And “Act of Love” got shunted. “Ah, we’ll get back to it someday.” Low and behold, a few years ago, “Act of Love” turned up online. And it was a DJ that had put together this thing with the riff from the song. It wasn’t so much that what he did was great. But it reintroduced the riff to us. And we thought, “This is the time to go back to this…” And it’s not radically different. Although we came up with, I think, a much stronger chorus. And I’d like to think that’s being more experienced songwriters and so on.

But there’s a thing where we just felt that the song had found its moment again. If you had bet me three years ago that was going to happen, I would’ve said it’s never going to happen. But lots of elements of our story just seem to unfold the way they want to unfold.

What was it like finally getting back on stage in front of actual fans after that two year layoff?

JK: Suddenly, when it was back on, everyone was scrambling for availability and it turned out that our very first gig was Wembley Arena – a sold out Wembley Arena – having never even played a note. I think we had two days rehearsal. I had one hour. And it was like, we’d go on and tell the audience, “Good news and bad news… We’re back! The bad news? We might need you tonight!”

But it went off like a box of fireworks. It was just great. And you could definitely feel it. There’s been an added zest to the proceedings over these last few months.

One of the things I realized I was taking for granted when it went away is the way that live music brings people together and connects people. I missed that. How important of a role is that for music to play?

JK: Absolutely. There are just so few things where people get together congregationally like that. You go to a sports arena and one side is this war really. So that doesn’t count. Church? Well, where we’re from, the churches are empty. No one’s going there anymore – and it’s nothing to do with COVID. But you go in there and these people – something happens. Something definitely happens.

First of all, when the music kicks in, people transcend what’s going on in their lives for those couple of hours. And it’s not a cliche. You see it in the body language. By the end of the night, grown men are hugging each other crying because you played some rare B-side. Very few things can do that.

What an amazing thing music is.

MORE FROM FORBESJim Kerr Of Simple Minds On Story Behind ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ And New Simple Minds MusicBy Jim Ryan

Simple Minds is born out of punk rock. And nobody from that world was looking ahead thinking, “Is this still going to be a thing in 45 years?” But here you are. What is it like to consider Simple Minds in those terms?

JK: Everything has changed. And yet, we get a kick out of also looking at it alternately where nothing has changed.

Punk rock was just amazing. It smashed the walls down. Suddenly, the lunatics had access. They had the keys to the tower. And that had never happened before – certainly not in the U.K. The idea that you could make your own little record, form your own band and write your songs and some guy might play it on the radio and somebody in New York might hear it and invite you… We were the luckiest people to be at that age at that time when this thing came along.

The essence of that was this homemade thing, that you could do it yourself – DIY. Well, 40 years later, Charlie and I are in a room [recording] and it is DIY. He’s down on the floor plugging things in. There’s no engineers. No producers. We’ve just got to work it out with our own wits – just like we were when we were 18. I’d go over to his house or he’d come over to mine. And we would sit there just trying to work things out. And we’re happy to be working this out.

It’s a bit of a stretch to say we’re punk rock – but we’re still very much DIY. And that’s the way we operate. So, from that, there is still a connection to those roots.