Having wrapped their European summer tour, Simply Red have released their new single, It Wouldn’t Be Me, taken from their latest album ‘Time’.
The melodic love song appeared on the group’s most-recent UK Top 10 LP and tells the story of a woman who has escaped her difficult past, meets someone and falls in love.
“I don’t write stories very often,” says frontman Mick Hucknall of the song, “but it’s about a girl who is scared of what she used to be. The narrator of the song loves her despite her past and isn’t gonna give up on her”.
Listen to It Wouldn’t Be Me below.
Recorded in London with the group’s longstanding producer Andy Wright and the band’s tight-knit group of musicians, the new release comes ahead of the band’s set at BBC Radio 2 In The Park.
“When we were in lockdown, I went, well, jeez, who am I actually?” says Hucknall of the album’s creation. “What makes me tick? And I realised: you are a songwriter.
The project sees the band back with Warner Music – the label that helped launch their career in 1985 – with Mick adding the LP reflects the musician as he is now – a happily married father and an ever-inspired singer and songwriter.
“Music is one of those wonderful communicators. Each and every person can have an interpretation of a song that can mean something to them,” he explains. “To be able to create something that is then shared with millions of people all over the world – what a joy. How can anything be more rewarding and fulfilling than that?”
In a review of the album, RETROPOP called ‘Time’ “a showcase of the band’s versatility and enduring appeal”, naming it “an essential Simply Red record”.
