However, some of you may have read my opinions about New Order's new single and album on the forum on NewOrderOnline.com (from which the Krafty pic is taken), and some of this post is taken from there.
The Glimmers 12" Extended Mix is really interesting as it strips down the song making it sound like Joy Division playing it at a soundcheck, the Phones Reality Mix is also very curious as converts the music to minor chords and hard techno.
No B sides, just a couple of other edits, but the good news is they're keeping the songs left out of this album and not using them in singles because another new album should be released next year!
First there was the rumour that New Order were going back to a rawer and darker sound, to their Joy Division roots, then that they were going back to more dance songs and it sounded like Technique. Well, they were both true, this album was made in different moments and purposedly gives different feelings, there's something for everyone and it's fantastic. Who's Joe is the kind of song Electronic could have made if they listened to a lot of Joy Division before doing Tighten Up, with the added value of a wonderful bass by Peter Hook. Bernard Sumner is even more a consummate songwriter, with the charming attack "Hey Joe, what you doin?". If the guitar coming at 04.39 is Phil Cunningham, I can't be happier he has joined the band properly. Anyway I'm sure his work is essential to at least some of the excellent guitar parts we have in the whole album.
Talking about great guitars, with Hey Now What You Doing we have an extraordinary start of a song. Is Phil the Johnny Marr of the 21st Century, or has Bernard been taking lessons from his old mate? Fantastic vocals here, in both the verse and chorus, I love how Barney sings 'You've gotta hold - your head - up high'.
Bernard Sumner has all the right to be proud of Waiting For The Sirens' Call, the title track has an amazing vocal tune in the verse: 'What does this ship bring to me'... it's such a simple and effective melody, only him can write masterpieces so effortlessly. If the chorus was as good it would be the best of the album.
I Told You So is just a masterpiece, it takes time to understand this work of genius, but after a while I can finally enjoy its immense beauty and this is now one of my favourite songs ever, and the best of the album... That metronomic keyboard sounding like a sequenced banjo is wonderful, the whole production is excellent, it's one of those songs they wanted to be all sunny and positive, but actually comes out very dark and naughty for me, there's something beautifully scary in this song, the whole sound of it, I just picture a druggy freak which could be Shaun Ryder lost on crack in some island near the Barbados writing a letter to his former girlfriend, something like a sequel to The Beach movie...
The dark beginning of Morning Night And Day is the perfect following to the dark ending of I Told You So. This song has a great chorus on a pumped up electro base, the verse is a bit generic but then explodes into this powerful chorus: 'It happens - It always seems to happen' (with the ghost of Johnny Marr here and there), and what a fabulous instrumental part...
Dracula's Castle is the electro-goth version of Dream Attack remixed by Revenge. It sounds good, it does. Great bass, and the chorus is fabulous. Nice to notice how they've roughly made the same trick of Brotherhood, splitting the album in two parts, with four guitar songs, five electronic/dance songs, with the difference of going back to the guitar for the final two. As for the music, almost all the tunes are so easy and at the same time magnificent, this happened on Get Ready and Republic, but not that often, so I think it's fair to see Sirens as the best album of the 21st century New Order looking back to the Technique formula... Back on this song, so far I just think there's something missing to make it one of the best, but it's still a great track.
Jetstream is a funky pop gem, listen with an open mind and you'll enjoy it, and it could sell well as a single. It works, it's dead sexy... come on, let's sing along "J - E - T! You are so good for me!". Great production here, nice vocals from Scissor Sister Ana Matronic, and I adore the keyboard chords before the chorus. Shaun Ryder would sell his soul to God to release something like this!
Guilt Is A Useless Emotion sounds like reworking World In Motion from the stadium to the disco 15 years later. Amazing rhythm, wonderful keyboard, and what a tune when Barney sings "Just another day of the week" (even better the second time when Hooky also appears)... another fantastic descending melody like the one on the title track... how comes he can compose stuff like that more than once on the same album, 50 years old?! Genius! Another lesson for the young pretenders out there. The chorus is alright, it works, it's not their best ever, but it fits well in a powerful disco anthem. Another potential single, great for clubs...
If they released Turn as a single in America it would be the biggest relaunch of a career we've ever seen on that side of the Atlantic. It would be used for TV series, ads, radio, MTV, movies, sports, everywhere. The Americans are just waiting for this tune! 'Turn and your eyes follow me - it's time for me to go' and the Americans will fall in love with this perfect guitar pop song! Myself I adore the beginning 'It's a haaaard - way, to come home'. Touching.
Working Overtime is a bit of a silly way to finish an otherwise almost perfect album... this would have made sense from Warsaw, now it sounds just like 'Let show The Strokes how garage rock should be made'. And actually it beats any contemporary band of this genre. The song itself is not bad, but it just doesn't fit anywhere on this album. Turn would have been the perfect ending of the album (which should have been opened by the title track), I'd have left this for the B side of Krafty.
Anyway hats off to New Order for this excellent album, Waiting For The Sirens Call leaves me happy and with no nostalgia for Low Life which was released 20 years ago. I like that, but Sirens is even better, and when a band sounds better at 50 than at 30, you know it's a great band. Actually, it's the best ever!
