 we are both really connected with one another once again and that comes out in the work.
A lot of fans at the time said that they thought that Walk Between Worlds was your best work to date. Would you agree with them on that?
To be totally honest and open with you, I am possibly the worst person in the world who you could ask that question (laughter). I am always changing my mind. There are always different points, different things and to make matters worse, I find myself looking at our albums through a nostalgic lens. The more that I listen to an album, the more things I can hear wrong with it (laughter). Having said that, at the time it would have felt like the perfect thing to me. Because of that, I tend to look at our albums as a continuum, and what I would say is that some of them are more in focus than others and some of them are more confident than others.
You mention listening to an album and picking fault. When an album is finished can you walk away or are you a meddler?
The thing that we have learnt together with all of the things that we have seen over the years is that there is no definitive way to record a song. For example, there could be five versions of ‘that’s the song’ (laughter). And so, once you realise that then you are in the position where you have to make a decision and go with it. When you have to do that then yes, I can do that. I can make that decision so this is what the track is going to be. Having said all of that, there is always time for a last-minute intervention (laughter). Sometimes you have a wee inkling in the back of your mind that says “you know what, I don’t know about that. It sounded good but I’m not sure” (laughter).
At that stage I won’t say anything because why upset the apple cart.  I have to say that there is an art, a skill, and a niche to make decisions and stick to them, the caveat being that there is always room for a last-minute intervention (hysterical laughter).  
They simply do not like to give up; they don’t like to give in and give up (laughter). On the one hand you could say “well their method works, look at the great records that they have made” but they possibly bring sometimes unnecessary agony on themselves. I also think that psychologically, although no one admits it, it is kind of scary to hand over your work because that’s it, it is going to be judged now and there is no going back. I think that a lot of people actually do find that bit quite scary.  Looking back, there are a couple of records that I can hear just how they might have suffered simply through a lack of more time being available. However, I would have to say that by and large it was a good thing.
You have briefly mentioned that you are currently working on new material. When are you thinking that it will be ready for release?
Well, to be totally honest with you, I don’t think that the new album will be released anytime during the next year, and I will tell you the reason why I say that, in fact thinking about it there are two reasons. The first thing is that this tour that we are now about to undertake is a postponed tour from two years ago, and it is essentially a greatest hits anniversary tour. So, you don’t really want to be bringing out a new record that gets submerged under all of that. That simply wouldn’t be fair on the record.
But the other thing is that because of Covid, and you might have heard people talking about this, the whole vinyl thing, which is a big part of our sales, especially the early sales when you are looking at chart positions, because of Covid and a hell of a lot of other factors, I don’t doubt that the current situation with Russia, the production of vinyl records has simply stopped. Vinyl at the moment is so very scarce, so there is a huge queue of people waiting to have their records pressed so even if you handed it over now, it might be a year before the plants could produce the albums for you. So, all of those things are telling me that hopefully the album will be released this time next year.
As crazy as this sounds, I was recently told that one of the main reasons as to why vinyl production has for the time being ceased is that there is a massive shortage of cardboard for the sleeves.
Is that what it is, well that really is crazy (laughter).
You have mentioned forty years of hits, after a two-year enforced hiatus, are you now chomping at the bit, wanting to get back out on the road and tour?
Yes, we are. As I said earlier, everyone who enjoys playing live gigs, then of course, the live gigs are the things that are the centrepiece, and to not be able to engage in that for the last two years, for a band like us, is shocking but another thing in addition to that is that when you have spent as much time as we have touring, our pals, the crew, all of that, it is almost like a extended family. It always has been that way, and it still is. We have really missed all of that as well so yes, chomping at the bit and there are a lot of reasons as to why that is.
With your vast back catalogue, is it an enjoyable headache whenever you are putting together a set list for a tour?
(Laughter) I have to say that it has recently become a real challenge. I know what you mean when you say that, because there are only so many songs that you can play on any given night, but I think that we have got that down quite well. I personally feel that with a really good set you want to tick, there are five or six boxes that you really want to tick within your set. You want to play the songs that the audience expect to hear, that’s a given. You want to give the audience a sense of time and legacy, so you want to go right back to the start. You want to come right up to the current music that you are making. You want to play a couple of obscurities for the hard-core fans, who really appreciate that stuff, the songs that they never thought that they would ever hear played live. You might even want to throw in a cover that no one ever thought about.
I think if you do all of that, you have got a good chance of sending the majority of people home happy. So, what we do is, we do that, we will probably play twenty-five songs every night, but before we go out on tour, we will have rehearsed between thirty-five and forty which means that there are most probably sixteen or seventeen that we will play every night whilst the other eight positions on the set list are up for grabs from the pool. That, for us, keeps it fresh and we never play the same set on consecutive nights. It just gives it that bit of freshness especially for those fans that will come to see more than one gig. They are usually guaranteed not to hear the same thing exactly. That way, we keep it fresh, but I will say, it’s a tough one; there is no perfect set, but that gives you a good chance of most of us being happy, but more importantly, the audience being happy.
I am being told that there is no support for the UK leg of the tour, is that correct?
 Whoever your mole is, they happen to be perfectly correct. There is no support; it is two sets with a short interval. We really do want to give full bang for the buck so to speak. We find that although it’s always great if you can bring along something new and interesting, these people really do want to hear Simple Minds, so it works well as a show. We play these two sets with full immersion.
The last couple of times that I have photographed and reviewed you, you have been at The Royal Concert Hall here in Nottingham. This time around you are playing The Motorpoint Arena also here in Nottingham. Do you have a preference regarding the size of the venue?
Firstly, I feel that have to say that I think that The Concert Hall up there in Nottingham is particularly good, I have to say that. I really do like performing there. Having said that, I also like the challenge of them all and if you have played there a couple of times then you really do want to go onto somewhere different. Somewhere that gives you a wee bit of a different experience. Great bands should be able to play at Live Aid or at their mates birthday party and still give it their full commitment and put on a great show, so yes, they are all a challenge (laughter).
Are there disagreements along the way?
Oh yes, oh yes (laughter). Thankfully, there are not enough in any way to encumber or spoil the relationship that we have, it is always fun, it is intense, but it is always fun. Charlie and I don’t have small arguments; we only have humongous arguments, screaming, shouting and all that (laughter). I find that arguments are usually caused by pure frustration at a very rare point that Charlie and I may not be on the very same page with something. The problem is that we are not good at explaining to one another; we are good but not when we get to that very rare point, we haven’t been good at explaining to each other, why someone is missing the value in the idea (laughter).
It is usually out of frustration, but I have to say that it is so rare, but inevitable also (laughter). Don’