After the departure of New Order‘s bassist and founding member, Peter Hook, back in 2007, it seemed like the Manchester icons’ celebrated tenure was about to grind to a bitter halt. Hook constantly slated his former group in the press, while fans and critics alike questioned whether New Order could really continue without his idiosyncratic, melodic basslines that punctuated their sound.
But, let’s not forget that New Order are no strangers to losing band members. Their transformation from Joy Division to New Order, following the death of frontman Ian Curtis in 1980, saw the remaining members reinvent themselves from gothic, post punk existentialists into vibrant, synth-pop pioneers. After all the animosity and cynicism that has taken place since Hooky left the band, only a reinvention of this calibre could silence the naysayers whilst also maintaining the interest of fans. Their first LP as New Order, 1981’s Movement, was something of a shaky start, so the pressure was steeped onto this, their first album of new material in 10 years, to regain the momentum of their heyday.
Thankfully, they’ve only gone and done it.
The album marks a joyous return to form, following the sludgy Britpop of their previous album, 2005’s Waiting For The Siren’s Call. Making a welcome resurgence to the fore are the jittery synths and Kraftwerk-echoing drum machines that pulsed through classics such as ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ and ‘Blue Monday’. However, don’t think for a moment that Music Complete is merely a bunch of has-beens rekindling their youth. In fact, whilst almost all the hallmarks of a classic New Order record are present, this album sounds just as modern as anything else you’ll hear in 2015. In the same way they originally turned towards the emerging house scene in Detroit and Chicago for inspiration back in the early 80s, it is clear on Music Complete that this new, revitalised New Order are very aware of contemporary dance music, and have been able to adapt it to fit with their unique blend of electronica and scathing post-punk guitar. The particularly dance-y ‘The Game’ and ‘Plastic’ sound not a million miles away from modern day house.
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Meanwhile, standouts ‘Singularity’ and ‘Stray Dog’ comfortably join the lineage of classic New Order songs with their Joy Division-on-E arrangements and gravelly, spoken word vocals from Iggy Pop, no less, on the latter. Further guest appearances come from La Roux’s Elly Jackson, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers and the Chemical Brothers, who lend their production talents to two tracks. Elsewhere on the record, the band even seem to have ventured into some previously unexplored musical territory, most notably on the droning, Velvet Underground-esque, half-psychedelia of ‘Nothing But A Fool’, and the impossibly funky ‘People On The High Line’.
So, with a little help, New Order have successfully entered a new phase of their career with their finest album since 1993’s Republic. They have escaped their dirge-rock rut and fully embraced the 21st century. They haven’t sounded so fresh, so vibrant and (most importantly) so relevant in decades.
Music Complete is out now via Mute Records
Words by Matthew Smith