SIMPLY REDMICK HUCKNALL IS GIVING
FIREBRAND POLITICS A SWERVE
ON SIMPLY RED’S FORTHCOMING
12TH STUDIO ALBUM. INSTEAD,
HE’S TAKING REFUGE IN
AN ARSENAL OF IRRESISTIBLE
SOUL-INFUSED FUNKY TUNES.
WILL SIMPSONS A S
ON SIMPLY RED’S FORTHCOMING S FOR
“THIS IS A BIT OF
ESCAPISM – IT’S
A GOOD-TIME
BLUE-EYED
SOUL ALBUM ”
I
used to take things way too
personally,” Mick Hucknall refl ects.
“Probably that was a deep-seated
insecurity at being abandoned by
my mother. If something like that
happens to you you’re probably
not going to be fi lled with eternal
self-confi dence and might see
everything as being kind of like a battle.”
There’s more: “I think people have an
image of me as being very arrogant but it’s
not always been the case. It might surprise
people to know that I can be quite shy.” He
goes on to describe an incident in London
years ago when the singer caught sight of
Alec Guinness getting into a cab but was
too paralysed by fear to go over and tell
the actor how much he admired him.
Mick has been a part of British pop
culture for so long, we all think we know
him: ginger hair, Man Utd fan, brilliant
voice, but in person a little bit... spiky, not
quite at ease with himself in the way you’d
assume a pop star who’s sold 50 million
albums should be.Today, that spikiness seems to be a thing
of the past. Instead he seems refl ective,
talking about his three decade-long career
and a new album that sounds like a product
of a relaxed, happy man fronting a relaxed,
happy band; one that comes with a none
more this-is-who-I-am Ronseal-like title.
Simply Red releasing an album called Blue
Eyed Soul is a bit like AC/DC christening
their latest opus ‘Rock’ or George Clinton
putting out ‘Funk’. It’s what they do, duh.
“Yeah, it is kind of stating the obvious,” he
shrugs. “But people have described me in
this way for pretty much all of my life so
I thought ‘just own it’. If that’s what you are
then just be that.
“I’ve got blue eyes. And I’ve been told
consistently by various people throughout
the years that I’m a soul singer so, yeah,
I’ve always thought the term is quite valid.
I feel part of a lineage – if you look back at
the previous century starting with the
beginnings of jazz you’ve got Bing Crosby
and Frank Sinatra, who were both
infl uenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke