Simple Minds

"I ENJOY staying here," says Jim Kerr, the broth of his Glasgow accent as thick as ever. His upturned palms take in not only the airy ‘umbrella suite’ — cutely bedecked with paper parasols — which his record company has hired for interviews, but the pastel luxuriance of the Halcyon Hotel in general. It's his usual London pied-à-terre during frequent trips away from his home beside the Forth Bridge. In fact, he says, contrary to the habitual rock star lament, he enjoys staying in expensive hotels wherever they may be. "I don't think, you know, it's, uh..." He pauses, plainly on the brink of some reference to ‘guilt feelings’, but then decides against any form of apology. "It's so good," he says.