6/10

Remember Simple Minds? As one of the biggest names in the new wave electronic movement of the 80s, Simple Minds were a turning point in British music, bringing in a huge waves of imitators and inspired new acts. Well it seems that they never really went away, releasing their first album in five years, they have returned with record number sixteen and have now produced new music across five decades.

What makes this new effort so apt is its timing, as the cultural fabric of today's music scene has been looking to bands like Simple Minds to develop their style, making this nostalgic-sounding record more at home today than it would have anytime in the last twenty years. 'Big Music' has all the hallmarks of a band who have fine-tuned their sound to a tee and aren't looking to fill the full-length with multi-directional soundscapes or experimental compositions. In a sense, this is a very safe record for them to release but still manages to showcase the talent they still have and deliver a very engaging collection of new material.

It will probably fly over the heads of today's music aficionados but for original fans of the group will be seen as a very accommodating release as they haven't really changed but still maintained their energetic passion.