Walk Between Worlds heralded major lineup changes for Simple Minds. After a period of relative stability since the early 2000s, only vocalist Jim Kerr, guitarist Charlie Burchill and bassist Ged Grimes remained from the previous studio album, Big Music.
It was the first album since 2002's Cry without keyboardist Andy Gillespie, who left the band in early 2017. Longtime drummer Mel Gaynor performed on nine of the album's tracks, but left prior to the band's 2018 tour.
Longtime associate Gordon Goudie played acoustic guitar on four songs. Goudie also appeared on the following Simple Minds albums: 2001's Neon Lights, 2002's Cry, 2005's Black & White 050505, 2009's Graffiti Soul, 2016's Acoustic and 2017's Acoustic in Concert. Sarah Brown remains the primary backing vocalist of the band.
Percussionist Cherisse Osei played on three songs and is the official drummer for the 2018 tour. Catherine AD aka The Anchoress provided backing vocals on two songs and was playing keyboards on tour but abruptly left the band during the 2018 tour.
Also returning on the album was Peter-John Vettese, who played piano on two tracks and arranged string orchestra on one song. (Vettese also appeared on the album Real Life in 1991).
Walk Between Worlds was performed in its entirety in February 2018 during seven concerts throughout Europe.
Artwork
The album artwork is by Brazilian visual artist Heitor Magno.[9]
Walk Between Worlds received generally positive reviews from music critics. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, which assigns a "Metascore" based on the ratings and reviews of selected mainstream independent publications, the album has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6][10] Writing in Uncut, Graeme Thompson described it as, "an expansive, atmospheric reboot of the muscular melancholy of 1985's Once Upon a Time, and "as strangely compelling as anything they've done over the past 35 years."[13]Q magazine wrote "At times, it teeters between nostalgia and self-parody. .... But you can forgive the odd-slip-up, because the whole thing sounds so joyous."[10]
On 28 January 2018, a few days before its release, Walk Between Worlds was awarded "Album of the Week" by The Times.[14]
Track listing
All tracks written by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill except where noted.
Standard edition
"Magic" – 4:35
"Summer" – 4:57 (Kerr, Burchill, Owen Parker)
"Utopia" – 4:15
"The Signal and the Noise" – 5:18
"In Dreams" – 4:16
"Barrowland Star" – 6:23
"Walk Between Worlds" – 5:13
"Sense of Discovery" – 6:27 (Kerr, Burchill, Parker)
Mel Gaynor – drums, percussion (on "Walk Between Worlds")
with:
Cherisse Osei – drums (on "Sense of Discovery"), percussion (on "Sense of Discovery" and "Dirty Old Town")
Sarah Brown – additional lead vocals (on "In Dreams"), backing vocals (on "Magic", "The Signal and the Noise", "Barrowland Star", "Walk Between Worlds", "Sense of Discovery", "Angel Underneath My Skin" and "Dirty Old Town")
Gordy Goudie – acoustic guitar (on "Summer", "Utopia", "Barrowland Star" and "Dirty Old Town")
^The "Taormina 2022" version of "Direction Of The Heart" is due to be released on 21 October 2022 as one of two bonus tracks of the forthcoming new studio album Direction of the Heart.[16]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 06.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
