21 May, 2009 Roll with Graffiti Soul
From yesterday in some parts of the world you could get a copy of Simple Minds fifteenth album Graffiti Soul. I don’t know about you, but it has been a long wait for us considering the record was pretty much finished before the end of last year. Nevertheless we are absolutely delighted to see it released and equally happy to have witnessed the kind of buzz that has built up over the last weeks as reactions to the work appeared throughout the media. No more so than in the on line communities were our fans (Who ironically can also be our biggest critics!) have done an amazing amount of shouting and bawling on our behalf – as always we are indebted to them.
But it does not stop there in terms of thanks, because over the last few months I have seen so many people have do their bit in terms of laying solid foundations for the popularity of this album and in doing so creating an effect that truly could see Simple Minds back on the mainstream radar. Simpleminds.com has also done a great job of feeding the excitement for many and it deserves a special recognition for doing so.
Staff at the record companies have been wonderful in terms of showing faith in the record, they have more than pushed the boat out this time and I feel confident that will continue to do so throughout the following months. So many of the journalists in print/tv and radio, have encouraged us so much with their reactions, and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every interview. I suppose what I want to say is that if you find yourself in a position where you have to go on a three month non stop media campaign to promote an album – as I have. Then Graffiti Soul is probably the album you would want to be promoting. Why? Because people just seem to love it, that’s why!
So there we have it. Graffiti Soul is out and I can imagine that many of you will be spending time with it over the next few days. I hope you like it as much as we do, your loyalty to SM deserves the reward of having more full blooded music from SM. For the moment we give you Graffiti Soul, but believe me when I say that the next one will be even better!
Jim Kerr