Simple Minds announce new album Sacrosanct and release first single “Beginner Boys”
Simple Minds announce their new album Sacrosanct, arriving in January 2027, and share first single “Beginner Boys” ahead of a major world tour.
Simple Minds have announced a new studio album, Sacrosanct, which is due for release through BMG on January 29, 2027. The band have also shared the record’s first single, “Beginner Boys.”
The eight-track album follows 2022’s Direction Of The Heart and was developed during a period that included extensive touring. According to the band, their 2025 North American dates helped steer Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill back towards some of the art-rock and new-wave elements heard in their earlier work.
“Beginner Boys” was inspired by Kerr watching his twin grandsons grow up and considering ideas around masculinity and character.
“how strength, tenderness, courage, and gentleness might still belong together, even when the wider culture around them can send mixed signals. It’s less a statement than a question I hope they’ll spend their lives answering for themselves.”
Elsewhere on Sacrosanct, “Elysium” takes its name from the paradise of Greek mythology, while “King Of The Underworld” draws on the figure of Mephistopheles. “Jerusalem (State Of Mind)” references William Blake, and “Our Secrets Are The Same” explores the long friendship between Kerr and Burchill.
The closing tracks, “Alive In This Moment” and “The Next Right Thing,” approach nostalgia and the passage of time from different perspectives.
Explaining the album title, Kerr said: “We called the album Sacrosanct because after a lifetime of doing this — nearly 50 years of writing songs together — it’s stopped feeling like a career and started feeling like something closer to faith. Calling the record Sacrosanct isn’t an exaggeration. It’s just honest.”
The full Sacrosanct tracklist is:
- Elysium
- King Of The Underworld
- Beginner Boys
- Jerusalem (State Of Mind)
- Our Secrets Are The Same
- Songs
- Alive In This Moment
- The Next Right Thing
The album artwork also incorporates work by Glasgow-born sculptor Andy Scott, who has reworked the Simple Minds logo in steel. Scott is best known for The Kelpies in Falkirk.
Simple Minds will support the album with their V Tour 2027, beginning in Australia and New Zealand in February before moving through Europe in April and the UK and Ireland in May. Gary Numan is listed as special guest for the Australia/New Zealand and UK/Ireland dates, with Level 42 joining the European shows.
The UK and Ireland leg includes concerts at London’s O2 Arena on May 6, Co-op Live in Manchester on May 7, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on May 14 and Dublin’s 3Arena on May 17.
Before the 2027 tour, Simple Minds are also scheduled to appear at the Darker Waves Festival in California on November 14.
Sacrosanct is released through BMG on January 29, 2027.
