New Order - Music Complete

New Order are back after a decade. They’re refreshed and they’ve not missed a beat. The album starts with Reckless, the first single to be released. It’s warm but punchy, like a train rolling through the countryside. With bags of energy and a singalong chorus, this is a promise of what’s to come. Singularity is one of a couple tracks produced by Tom Rowlands(The Chemical Brothers) and has a harder edge, reminding me of The Cure circa Boys Don’t Cry with a driving beat and electro rhythms. I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster in space. Tutti Frutti is pure Italodisco with backing vocals from Elly Jackson aka La Roux and there’s some lovely plonky keyboard action and bouncy handclaps on People On The High Line. Stray Dog sees Iggy Pop reading a poem about not getting sucked down into life’s mire over an insistent beat washed with synths and Nothing But A Fool comes close to a blues song at times. Unlearn This Hatred is a full on rant from Bernard Sumner with a pushy keyboard tune and unrelenting drums. Superheated draws the album to a close with an orchestral interlude, lyrics about the end of a relationship and the final words “It’s over”. And bloody hell, we’ve just heard one of the most complex, varied, epic, simple, hard, warm, energetic, thoughtful albums I’ve heard for quite some time.  This is a fresh new dance record with equal love for Joy Division guitars and classic New Order synths. They sing about being confused by the modern world, but also about having fun trying to work it out. They sing about love. They sing about disappointment. They’ve worked hard on this, and it sounds to me like this might indeed be the new order of New Order.