Make NOW PLAYING default page for music playback

Kodi on LE 9.0.1 stays on the "browse" front page when it starts playing an audio file.

Is there a setting in the config file somewhere to turn on "Now Playing" view automatically as soon as a music file starts playing?

I've tried installing the "party mode" addon, but still no dice

Could someone please give me some clues on how to fix/tweak the Playing Now for music files?

I just don't get it - if I start playing a video file, the screen automatically changes to "playback" view.

Why doesn't it do this when I start playing a music file it stays on the default front page?

I expect to see the audio playback screen with album cover and the progress bar + info, but this doesn't happen - what am I missing here?

Okay, I just noticed that during music playback an extra "full screen" icon appears in the icon row just under below the KODI logo.

If I click on in, the screen changes exactly to what I want to see - album art, progress bar, etc.

But it stays on for 30 sec, then the screen changes to empty blue and stays so for the duration of the song.

When the next track starts playing, the screen changes back to default front page.

How do I get the "full screen" mode staying on indefinitely while I'm playing music files?

There are 2 possible explanations why I'm not getting any response to my question:

1) Someone knows the answer, but they think I'm too lazy and must find out for myself because the answer is too obvious

2) This is a known "undocumented feature" that cannot be fixed

Could someone please have mercy on me and reply to this thread?

Thank you Da Flex!

The screen itself is fine - it just times out very quickly.

My guess is here must be an settings XML hidden somewhere that needs to be edited.

The add-ons for the music player are mostly fluffy dice and internet radio plugins.

It would be great if one of the DEV's could point me to the XML location if it's writable, of course