Cornerstones of British electronic music, OMD, return to jumpstart and rewire the canon with brand new album ‘English Electric’, out April 8th on 100% Records.
OMD
Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD ‘ Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys ‘ ‘English Electric’ is a 12-track letter to technology, space, love and a grand return to form for a band whose 1980 hit ‘Enola Gay’ occupied the world’s stage at last year’s Olympics Opening Ceremony.
As percolating synth-pop is pulled along at different speeds and executed with needle-sharp finesse, late night electro ballads collide with big sounding club cuts on a record which also features three interlude tracks, including dystopian missive ‘Please Remain Seated’ and ‘Decimal’, which is accompanied by this suitably mechanical video , directed by German motion and graphic designer Henning M. Lederer.
LP Highlights include the radioactive clatter of ‘Atomic Ranch’ ‘ a song which pokes fun at convention with computerised voices ‘ ‘Kissing The Machine’ ‘ which was composed in collaboration with early influence Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos ”Helen of Troy’ ‘ which revives the recurring historical figure motif ‘ and the glacial, uplifting ‘Metroland’, the first single, out March 25th.
As Andy McCluskey says of the album; ‘the overarching feel tends to be a sense of loss, of melancholia, that things haven’t turned out the way you wanted them to, whether it be with technology or personal relationships.’ The title itself ‘ taken from a British industrial manufacturing company ‘ has further resonance for the pair as locomotive enthusiasts and self-confessed technology geeks.
This is the follow-up to 2010’s ‘History of Modern’ and the band’s twelfth album to date.
The original four-piece ‘ Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper ‘ will be united once again this spring for a string of must-see shows, which commemorate the band’s 35th anniversary, including London’s Roundhouse May 3rd.
Full tracklisting for ‘English Electric’
1. ‘Please Remain Seated’
2. ‘Metroland’
3. ‘Night Café’
4. ‘The Future Will Be Silent’
5. ‘Helen of Troy’
6. ‘Our System’
7. ‘Kissing The Machine’
8. ‘Decimal’
9. ‘Stay With Me’
10. ‘Dresden’
11. ‘Atomic Ranch’
12. ‘Final Song’
The album is being released on standard CD format, as a deluxe edition – with media book and bonus DVD ‘ vinyl format’ limited edition die cut sleeve on heavyweight vinyl, as a limited edition deluxe tin boxset, as well as digitally.
