Neapolis album

Simple Minds return on a new label with a new album, Neapolis on March 16th, preceded by the single Glitterball on March 2nd. With Peter Walsh - producer of New Gold Dream - back at the controls with Charlie Burchill and original bassist Derek Forbes back in the line-up, the new songs mark something of a return to their origins. The early Simple Minds albums broke new ground in synthesizer-based music, with their roots in Can, Cabaret Voltaire and Kraftwerk, and Neapolis has the intimacy and the layered, trancey feel of the Krautrock sound.

Glitterball is representative of the album. Burchill wrote it on an Omnichord, the most basic of keyboards, to create a particular effect: "I thought it'd be great to give Jim something really basic, the old standard three chords and a bit of rhythm. It's quite naive in a way, but it sums up for me the general sound of the album." The single will feature unique remixes of classic early Simple Minds tracks, such as Love Song, Themes For Great Cities, Waterfront and Don't You Forget About Me. The band have never previously allowed anyone to remix or even sample any of the early hits, though they have been repeatedly approached for permission over the years, since the tracks are regarded as landmarks in early British synth/electronic music. The remixers involved include Fila Brazilia, Jam & Spoon, Union Jack and Philadelphia Bluntz.

The band will be playing live around Europe from mid-May (obviously with a break in June for a few weeks, depending on how far Scotland progress in the World Cup), a tour which will include playing the major European festivals. "Our attitude to playing live has been very pure and almost competitive," says Kerr. "To us, the audience have to go back and say to their mates 'You should have been there.' I think that goes back to Charlie and I seeing so many gigs when we were kids. We always knew who delivered."

new simple minds web site- www.simpleminds.com

Press release distributed for Glitterball and Neapolis.