[TR24][OF] Simply Red - Big Love - 2015 (Pop Rock, Soul, Rhythm & Blues)

Simply Red release their first new studio album in eight years with Big Love out June 1st on East West Records. When the band announced a massive world tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary last autumn, main man Mick Hucknall started thinking about recording again. “Once I began wondering how Simply Red were going to sound, I started writing songs,” says Mick. And once he started, he couldn’t stop. Big Love is the first Simply Red album to feature only original compositions since 1995’s ‘Life’. All twelve tracks are written by Mick Hucknall and produced by Andy Wright. Highlights include the celebratory first single ‘Shine On’ driven by their trademark blue-eyed soul sound and ‘The Ghost Of Love’, a big soul song punctuated by wah-wah guitar and the kind of bold orchestral strokes that once powered Barry White and his Love Unlimited. The break has done Mick Hucknall a power of good, newly refreshed he now has a much clearer appreciation of Simply Red’s considerable legacy. He admits that the band’s last studio album in 2007, ‘Stay’, was an attempt to pull away from their sound. “With ‘Stay’ I was running away from Simply Red,” Mick admits. “But now I’m comfortable with the notion of us as a blue-eyed soul group. I had to stop myself fighting that idea. Our sound is original too. I honestly don’t know of another band that has pulled so many musical strands together.” Quite simply, Big Love is Simply Red at their best, 12 tracks to cherish. With a 16 date UK tour this winter, including 3 shows at London’s 02 Arena, Simply Red are once again a band in their prime.
Mick Hucknall, vocals
Ian Kirkham, saxophone
Steve Lewinson, bass
Kenji Suuki, guitar
Kevin Robinson, trumpet, flute
Dave Clayton, keyboards
Ronnie Roth, drums
Produced by Andy Wright, Mick Hucknall