Bouillon de kulture : Music Complete / Life after Hook (New Order) (43)

I believe that Barry Walters of Rolling Stone magazine has fully captured the essence, the DNA of Music Complete, New Order's tenth studio album : Just as Curtis' suicide inspired his bandmates to reinvent themselves as New Order in 1980, Hook's departure frees them to create their most varied and substantial work in decades. Well said...

Brand New New Order

Let's just say that there are some luminous moments, some instant NO classics here, as if they had always been part of the band's catalogue : Restless, Singularity (classic Joy Division feel dipped in electronic flavor), Academic and Nothing But A Fool (pure joy, one of my favourite NO tracks in years).

Experiments In Sounds

Tutti Frutti's disco mood has a killer chorus, thanks to La Roux's Elly Jackson, and the Italian man's voice heard on the cut brings a similarity to the one used on Fine Time (Technique).

But I have to admit that I could have done without People On The High Line, which could have been replaced with an instrumental song in the likes of Don't Do It (again from the Deluxe version of Technique).

Another high point on Music Complete is the impressing lineup of collaborators that it features. Apart from Jackson, Iggy Pop (Stray Dog) and Brandon Flowers (Superheated) help out in bringing the best out of this outstanding record.

Production wise : Tom Rowlands of Chemical Brothers, as well as Stuart Price also brought their talent to the table, bringing their newest electronic gears to the playground.

As far as the artwork is concerned, the amazing cover was created by long-time art director and collaborator, Peter Saville.

Back to the Basics

After the guitar-driven Get Ready, New Order returns to its roots with a more electronic sounding record, delivering their most achieved work since the flamboyant Technique.  Tom Chapman does a great job walking in legendary bassist Peter Hook's shoes, and Gillian Gilbert returns in tip top shape. Music Complete sounds like classic New Order, while showing the world that they are still ahead of the game, producing a sound that is fresh and unique, incorporating their well-known signature of blending elements of pop, dance-rock, electronic and nostalgia... A triumphant return for Bernard Sumner and co!

-30-

Muzik pairing :

Nothing But A Fool and Leave Me Alone - New Order