Mike Peters left the band in November 2013 at the end of their 19-date Land's End to John O'Groats UK Tour. The band attributed Peters' departure to his inability to commit fully to Big Country, much of his time being devoted to The Alarm and solo projects. Initially, the band intended to continue as a four-piece, sharing lead vocals and returning all the songs to their original keys; Peters had required the songs to be tuned lower to accommodate his deeper voice. [26] However, when they resurfaced in December 2013, they were joined by English singer Simon Hough, who performed most of the lead vocals as well as harmonica and additional guitar. [27] [28] While the status of Hough's membership was not immediately clarified, in a March 2014 podcast, Bruce Watson confirmed that Hough was now the band's fifth member. He also indicated that the group was working on new material, which would involve Hough, for potential future release. [29]

El Afecto Ilustrado - Quintetos para el Conde. Integral de quintetos de cuerda con dos violas de José Palomino de la Quintana (1753-1810) (2022) I've always considered myself as a singer and writer of folk songs I like to play though electric guitars." Big Country – Steeltown". Rotherham Theatres. 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014 . Retrieved 8 April 2014.

More big music," reported NME when The Seer was released in June 1986, "more heroics." And in terms of the epic scale of Big Country's third album, that part of the review was inarguable. And yet, eight months earlier when the band had begun work on The Seer at London's RAK Studios, the record they envisioned had been very different. Critic Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone gave The Seer a positive review, calling it "possibly [the band's] strongest effort to date":

Gwenda (19 January 2012). "Big Country Interviews 1984-1986". Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Proper Records are delighted to make again available the first three albums from the much-loved Big Country. Originally released on Mercury Records between 1983 and 1986, these records – The Crossing, Steeltown, and The Seer – sound as striking and singular now as they did when first heard. Those who scoured the credits on record sleeves might, at first, have thought Millar an unusual choice. At that point, he was best known as the multi-million-selling studio mastermind behind Sade's Diamond Life as well as the wistful, jazz-inspired pop of Working Week, Everything But The Girl and The Pale Fountains. However, as an inveterate pop theorist, There is the occasional reminder of how good Big Country could be. Lead single Look Away remains a perfectly fine pop song, bettered for earworm status by the irresistible Celtic party I Walk The Hill. When the philosophising stops, Hold The Heart is a powerful sentiment. Despite reaching No.2 in the UK, mostly Big Country crashed and burned in the long run for the naked careerism of their sound here.

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That opinion was exactly what Big Country's frontman Stuart Adamson and the band's cofounder Bruce Watson wanted to hear. "In the same way that we didn't want to do The Crossing Pt II with our second album Steeltown," explained Adamson, "I didn't feel it

would be right to do a Steeltown Pt II with The Seer." After reading Millar's comments, they knew they had found someone they could work with. Adamson returned for the band's 'Final Fling' farewell tour, culminating in a sold-out concert at Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom on 31 May 2000. They played what turned out to be their last gig in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October that year.Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Big Country". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p.30. ISBN 978-952-7460-01-6. a b c d e f g h i Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Thirded.). Virgin Books. pp.60/1. ISBN 1-85227-969-9. Johnson, Howard (10 July 1986). "Big Country 'The Seer' ". Kerrang!. London, UK: United Magazines (124): 12. a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.56. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.