Direction of the Heart
Studio album by
Simple Minds
Released21 October 2022 (2022-10-21)
Recorded(up to 24 October) 2020
Studio
  • Chameleon Studios, Hamburg
  • London (drums and backing vocals)
Length38:10
47:59 (with 2 bonus tracks)
56:59 (with 4 bonus tracks)
LabelBMG
Producer
Simple Minds chronology
Live in the City of Angels
(2019)		 Direction of the Heart
(2022)
Singles from Direction of the Heart
  1. "Vision Thing"
    Released: 14 June 2022[1][2]
  2. "First You Jump"
    Released: 5 September 2022[3]
  3. "Traffic"
    Released: 9 December 2022[4][5]
  4. "Solstice Kiss"
    Released: 6 October 2023 (limited edition yellow and black splatter 12” vinyl)[6]

Direction of the Heart (stylized as "DIRECTION > of > the > HEART") is the nineteenth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released on 21 October 2022 by BMG.[1][7]

Background

On 24 October 2020, Simple Minds finished the recording of a new studio album in Germany.[8][9]

On 14 June 2022, Simple Minds announced the forthcoming release on 21 October 2022 of their new studio album entitled Direction of the Heart via BMG. Most of the new album's tracks were written, created and demoed in Sicily (where both Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill live). Unable to come to the UK because of COVID-19 quarantine rules, Simple Minds recorded the album at Hamburg's Chameleon Studios.[1][7] According to the album liner notes, Direction of the Heart features fewer musicians than any previous Simple Minds album, with Burchill performing guitars, most keyboards, and most bass guitars, as well as programming much of the drumming.

Speaking of the new album, Kerr stated:

How to make a feel-good "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?[7]

Album's name

The album takes its name not from a track from its standard edition (as it is most commonly the case) but from "Direction of the Heart (Taormina 2022)", the first bonus track from its digital and deluxe editions, which is the new re-recorded 2022 version of the original track which had already been released on 4 January 2018 (and physically on 2 February 2018) as the B-side of the "Magic" 7" vinyl single, the lead single from Walk Between Worlds, the band's previous studio album.

Songs

Sources[7][10]

  • The album's opening track "Vision Thing" was released for free on 14 June 2022 on YouTube as the album's lead single
  • "First You Jump" was co-written by bassist Ged Grimes
  • "Human Traffic" features a guest appearance from Sparks' frontman Russell Mael (this might be a reworking of the song "Human Trafficking" written in Hamburg during Summer 2009, first mentioned by Jim Kerr in February 2010, "not to be finished quite yet" as Jim Kerr stated on 25 November 2010)
  • "Solstice Kiss" is a song first written (by Grimes) during the Big Music sessions and mentioned several times during the recordings; re-recorded at the Sphere Recording Studio during the Walk Between Worlds sessions, it was (then) announced as a future contender for the next Simple Minds album
  • "Act of Love" is a reimagining of one of the earliest songs written in 1978 by Kerr and Burchill, coinciding with the group's first performance at Glasgow's Satellite City in January 1978. Simple Minds had already shared this track for free in January 2022.[11]
  • "Planet Zero" (lyrics by Kerr, music by Burchill) was described by Kerr as "an insanely catchy and thundering 'space-rock' track with music written by Burchill and featuring arguably one of his best ever guitar melodies", a song "that conjures up Prince set to the background of Hawkwind" and "sounds like pure Simple Minds, albeit remade and remodelled"; original recording started in late August 2011 during the Greatest Hits + Europe Tour and completed in London at the start of September 2011 with Steve Hillage producing
  • "The Walls Came Down" is a cover of the Call's 1983 single
  • A previous version of "Direction of the Heart" had already been released on 4 January 2018 (and physically on 2 February 2018) as the B-side of the "Magic" 7" vinyl single

Singles

On 14 June 2022, Simple Minds released for free on YouTube the lead single "Vision Thing".[1] On 9 July 2022, Simple Minds released on YouTube a lyric video for "Vision Thing".[2]

On 2 September 2022, it was announced that the world premiere of the new Simple Minds single "First You Jump" would occur on 5 September 2022.[3]

On 7 December 2022, Simple Minds announced the forthcoming release on 9 December 2022 of "Traffic", the JG Ballard-inspired new single featuring Russell Mael of Sparks. This is a new edit of the track "Human Traffic" accompanied by a brand new acoustic version.[4]

Jim Kerr stated about the song:[5]

I ended up writing about a game called ‘Human Traffic’, where people get so immersed they can no longer tell the difference between reality and the game. And to bring some humour to the song, we asked Russell Mael [of Sparks] to sing on it.

On 22 June 2023, it was announced the forthcoming release on 6 October 2023 of "Solstice Kiss", the fourth and final single taken from the album.[12] It was a chart success in the UK, reaching number 2 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart and entering the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart for one week at number 31.[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]

Direction of the Heart received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregation website Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[14]

On 28 October 2022, one week after its release, Direction of the Heart reached #4 in the UK Albums charts, #3 in the Scottish Albums charts and #2 (its highest peak so far) in the UK Independent Albums charts.

Track listing

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

Direction of the Heart – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vision Thing" 4:39
2."First You Jump"
4:23
3."Human Traffic" 4:17
4."Who Killed Truth?" 3:58
5."Solstice Kiss"
  • Burchill
  • Kerr
  • Grimes
5:23
6."Act of Love" 4:00
7."Natural" 3:26
8."Planet Zero" 4:10
9."The Walls Came Down"Michael Been3:54
Total length:38:10
Direction of the Heart – Digital and deluxe editions
No.TitleLength
10."Direction of the Heart (Taormina 2022)"4:55
11."Wondertimes"4:54
Total length:47:59
Direction of the Heart – Super deluxe edition[16]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Vision Thing (Exclusive Rehearsal Session)" 4:34
13."First You Jump (Exclusive Rehearsal Session)"
  • Burchill
  • Kerr
  • Grimes
4:26
Total length:56:59

Personnel

Charts

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Direction of the Heart – the new album from Simple Minds". simpleminds.com. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Simple Minds - Vision Thing (Lyric Video) (4:39)". 9 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022 – via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 "02 Sep, 2022 World Premiere of New Simple Minds Single". simpleminds.com. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  4. 1 2 "'Traffic' is the new single featuring Russel Mael of Sparks..." facebook.com. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 "'Traffic' is out now..." facebook.com. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  6. ↑ simpleminds.tmstor.es > Simple Minds > Solstice Kiss Limited Edition Collectors Vinyl
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Simple Minds announce new album 'Direction Of The Heart' and share single 'Vision Thing' (The follow-up to 2018's 'Walk Between Worlds' is out in October) (by Arusa Qureshi)". NME. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "When the headphones come off! (We're closing in. That's right. The finishing line is within touching distance and over this next week we'll cross over. I'm talking about the recording of the latest Simple Minds album...)". 18 October 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2022 – via Facebook.
  9. ↑ "Signing on... For heart of the crowd (Last day of recording in Germany, and while Charlie slams down his guitar magic on an inspired tune written by our very own Ged Grimes, I busy myself signing a mountain of photos - portraying a very young Jim Kerr....)". 24 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022 – via Facebook.
  10. ↑ Cornwell, Simon. "dream giver redux - discography - albums - walk between worlds". Dream Giver Redux.
  11. ↑ "Simple Minds share new version of rare track, 'Act Of Love' (by Elizabeth Aubrey)". NME. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  12. ↑ Simple Minds Facebook page > post "‘Solstice Kiss’ is available to pre-order NOW on limited edition 12” vinyl. Out 6th October." (22 June 2023)
  13. ↑ "Simple Minds Solstice Kiss". Official Charts.
  14. 1 2 "Simple Minds - Direction of the Heart reviews". Metacritic. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  15. ↑ Jurek, Thom (21 October 2022). "Simple Minds - Direction of the Heart review". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  16. ↑ simpleminds.tmstor.es > Direction of the Heart (Super Deluxe Edition)
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "Top Albums (Week 43, 2022)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  22. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  23. ↑ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  24. ↑ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 21.10.2022 al 27.10.2022)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  25. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  26. ↑ "Top 100 Albums Weekly". El portal de Música. PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  27. ↑ "Veckolista Album, vecka 43". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  28. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  29. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  30. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  31. ↑ "Simple Minds Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  32. ↑ "Rapports annuels 2022" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
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