Music Complete
Dance music has undergone a seismic shift in the last decade. So how do synth-pop pioneers New Order respond on their first LP since 2005? For \"Restless,\" they go straight back to their roots. It\'s a shimmering pop opus of ringing guitars, a \'60s radio chorus, and those familiar atmospheric synths from original keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, who returns on *Music Complete*. But she\'s not the only old friend here: keep an ear out for vocals from Iggy Pop and some production tricks from The Chemical Brothers\' Tom Rowlands.
The long awaited album will be New Order’s first full studio release since 2005’s Waiting For The Siren’s Call, and their debut for Mute. Music Complete finds the group revitalised, and where the group has previously pushed toward electronics or guitars, here the two are in balance. Music Complete also marks a return to the studio for Gillian Gilbert, this is her first album with New Order since 2001’s Get Ready.
Having largely eschewed the heavy guitars that weighed down much of their output for the past decade, New Order embrace electronics again on Music Complete. They conjure the kind of synth washes and house-y piano runs that could have easily pulsed across their records during their mid-'80s heyday, making for what is arguably the most refined record they’ve released since 1989’s Technique.
It’s not that Peter Hook isn’t missed, it’s just difficult to imagine how much better New Order’s return could realistically have sounded if he’d stuck around.
New Order – ft. a returned Gillian Gilbert and definitely no Peter Hook – come out synths blazing
So after the fights, the recriminations, and the bitter bile subside, a brand new New Order album surfaces.
Music aficionados will greet the arrival of a fresh New Order album as film enthusiasts would a new Star Wars movie: with uneasy optimism.
Review of 'Music Complete' by New Order, the UK band's forthcoming release comes out on September 25th via Mute Records. The lead single is "Restless".
New Order’s first proper album in a decade finds them sounding fresher than they have in a long time
New Order - Music Complete review: A dubious honor: New Order's most lackluster effort yet.