Orwell – A New Approach To Simple Minds That Will Have You ‘Coming Up for Air’

It was an Instagram story on Graeme Thomson’s account that first made me aware of the existence of Orwell. He had been sent a vinyl copy of Simple Minded, with its wonderfully stylised artwork – a subtle but very obvious homage to the Sons and Fascination album cover. I was impressed by its look and Graeme had positive words to say about the music but I decided that my interest wasn’t quite piqued enough to try and seek anything out myself. 

I would see the odd post from a Simple Minds fan posting on SMOG about Orwell’s music but again I was reluctant to dive in. Call it the general disillusionment I have been going through with SM, call it a doubt that what I would expose myself to would probably be a pale imitation of the “original and the best,” I kept putting off giving their output a listen. 

Most recently it was another one of those “favourite songs” posts on SMOG which I decided to partake in in which a fellow fan had asked me if I’d heard Orwell’s take on ‘Wonderful in Young Life’ – which I hadn’t. They provided me with a link to the Orwell FB page and I gave it a “like” but still didn’t do anything else beyond that. 

Until last night…

After the usual podcast listening I’d do in the evening, I decided to head to Spotify. Once there I thought I’d finally give this Simple Minded EP a listen. Trying very hard to keep all my preconceptions at bay. 

The first track is ‘20th Century Promised Land’. After the first 30-60 seconds I was feeling unsure but I continued listening. Another 60 seconds in and I was thinking there was something really wonderfully thought out with it. There was just something captivating about it. The way they breathed a different feel and vibe to the song was not what I was expecting at all. The vocalist has a voice that’s a higher pitch than Jim’s but is somehow still mellifluous. Really lovely and when he went lower in octaves – emulating Jim’s lower pitch …. There was something that struck a chord with me in that. 

The album’s next track is ‘Big Sleep’, and there was again just something strikingly and breathtakingly different about it. I can’t quite describe it rightly enough. The musical structure of this song gave it an alternate poignancy to the SM original. It was very pretty. 

Next up was ‘Up On The Catwalk’ and that really started having me think about how best to describe how Orwell is breathing new life – or giving a different breath to SM songs that we’ve known for years and years. Orwell gives a different emphasis, a new musicality, an alternative focal point. At times through these new interpretations, I felt like what I was hearing was akin to late 60s/early 70s David Bowie performing Simple Minds – it was really weird but strangely captivating. I was really enjoying listening to these …. “Covers” is not the right word to describe these tracks. 

Then, we hit ‘Wonderful in Young Life’. Again, I wasn’t sure at first, but then there was this change in tempo for what (I guess) qualifies for the “chorus” of the song. That alternating tempo was genius! And the way it was sung was beautiful. The only disappointment was how it ended. Both myself and a friend of mine (who the song has equal if not more significance than it does for me) love the way the original ends with Jim’s beautifully soft almost breathy ‘Here she comes / Wonderful / In young life’ and how that fades out. The Orwell version ended with a repetition of ‘I’m singing memories’ – which, given the tattoo on my arm, I should be happy with. With that said, I applaud them for bringing life to a version that is in all other aspects magnificent. It absolutely blew me away in how unique it is as a – I have to call it a reimagining, because to call it a cover really does not do it justice. 

Next was ‘Speed Your Love to Me’ – which, when I looked back on Facebook trying to see when that person linking to Orwell’s FB page for me had happened, I saw a post that I placed up in 2022 saying Bruce Findlay had shared it on (what was still then) Twitter. So, I really didn’t even put two and two together there. Probably goes some way into explaining how crazy the last two years have been for me. Again, it really gave off strong late 60s/early 70s ‘Bowie does Simple Minds’ vibes. The use of acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments, and the space the music has to breathe, and the singer’s voice. It’s all just like this image I get when I listen to Bowie’s ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ – early evening spring sunlight, that kind of ‘golden hour’ light of a setting sun, and a breeze billowing in through open windows, making muslin curtains dance in its soft rushes. 

Finally, the album ends with ‘Seeing Out the Angel’ and this is the only other MINOR (I have to say it is just me being pedantic) bugbear I had. A line in the song was sung incorrectly. The line should be ‘Receiving us with these tears’ but I think they sang ‘Receiving us this way’ instead. It is the most minor bugbear, I know and I am a pedantic f*** – but it was the only flaw in what was again, a truly exceptional reimagination of one of my most beloved Simple Minds songs. 

I laid in my bed for sometime afterwards wondering how I was going to write this out and to do it justice, because I genuinely had lain there in awe at what I’d just heard. It really was nothing like I had expected and I’d been left stunned. 

I might be alone in this feeling – or I might be being far too hyperbolic for some peoples’ liking but this is how the experience of listening to it had left me – and no one was more surprised by that than me!

I will leave the Spotify link below as well as leaving the link to the Orwell Bandcamp store here. Give it a listen if you feel so inclined.