Enjoying a revival thanks to the well-planned promotion of their back catalogue – which has ensured that Simple Minds are now as remembered for their cool early-80s output as they are for their late-80s pomp – the band continue to ring the changes with compilations, albums of covers and, after all these years, an acoustic set.
The thrillingly named Acoustic is a strange album, seeking as it does to homogenise the Minds’ ever-changing sound, lending a weird Celtic tinge to material as diverse as The American and Sanctify Yourself, while KT Tunstall guests on Promised You A Miracle.
Acoustic is a consistent collection that works best when the songs are strongest, and it’s movingly effective on the final track, a cover of Richard Hawley’s Long Black Train.