A new New Order album should be released in autumn, when night gains ground on day, when it starts to get cold and damp. Otherwise, we risk missing out.
Cut cocaine
The 10th opus from the Mancunians, Music Complete will inevitably be described as uneven by those who adhere to a Curtisan line as well as by lovers of subtle hits. The bad dope of Lost Sirens in 2013 – composed of studio outtakes that should have remained so – having barely satisfied the fans' craving, it would have taken virgin-pure cocaine to get the crowd of balding, press-beat-glasses-wearing junkies high. Here, it is cut with many ingredients: cold tension à la Cure's Seventeen Seconds era on Singularity, Papy Giorgio-esque synth on Plastic, Nile Rodgers-style funk riff (a pleonasm?) on People On The High Line, horror movie soundtrack on Stray Dog, nasty sandbox techno on Unlearn This Hatred. As for the drums on Superheated, they are frankly ripped off from A-ha's Take On Me.
Sticky nostalgia
And yet, we're still going to fall for this album. Following a magnificent cover with more pastel colors than it first appears, and which shows that Peter Saville still reigns supreme over the 31.5x31.5 cm exercise, the album breathes its sticky nostalgia thanks to the ingredients that have always composed New Order's most endearing tracks, far from the disco balls, from Love Vigilantes to Leave Me Alone via Temptation: Bernard Sumner's so fragile voice, Peter Hook's ample bass, and Stephen Morris' metronomic drumming. A cocktail found particularly on Restless, Academic and Nothing But A Fool, which makes you long for low clouds, first snows, and auto-spleen.
Barney on The Voice
For those under 30, it's probably worth remembering that Bernard Sumner was not exactly a singer destined to win The Voice. Anyone who has seen New Order in concert, at any time, knows perfectly well that he sings like a rusty rattle. Without the medical withdrawal of his former frontman in Joy Division, it's highly likely he would have remained in the shadows polishing the neck of his Gibson. Necessity being the mother of invention, he took the risk of exposing himself, for the better. In the context of the probably financial conflict opposing him to his former bandmate Hooky, Barney clearly wins the artistic battle: there will always be a hardworking bassist to do the job (even if, it must be admitted, the bearded man's low-flying bass playing and cowboy boots are sorely missed) while Barney's voice – imprecise, timid, a little sad – is unique.
A little restraint
However, it's not certain that New Order will win new listeners with Music Complete. Do you have to have grown up in the 80s to appreciate their demanding pop? To be well over 40 and tell yourself that the best is behind you? To have been sufficiently disappointed by men to appreciate this restraint at its true value? The presence of Elly Jackson (La Roux) on three tracks offers a nice bridge between generations and makes us think that it must be pretty cool to have grandparents like them.
