Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

By rights, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark should be in semi-retirement, performing classics like <a href="spotify:track:7bJSbd2Upa4iYVHlbRKEJm" data-name="Enola Gay">Enola Gay</a> and <a href="spotify:track:6mIaW1QZ8mMsLRixIuvjDM" data-name="Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)">Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)</a> on the nostalgia festival circuit like so many peers.

Instead, they’ve created a landmark album worthy of their finest work. Having made one of their most universally acclaimed albums last time out, when 2017’s <a href="spotify:album:2zAlIeSfwipohgoINJruZx" data-name="The Punishment of Luxury">The Punishment of Luxury</a> returned Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys to the Top Five for the first time since 1991’s <a href="spotify:album:1J8e1dLKVmZbsyxpGa9lGg" data-name="Sugar Tax">Sugar Tax</a>, the duo have somehow managed to better it. Welcome to <a href="spotify:album:2AV8XJDZrL0bXlMLb7th8u" data-name="Bauhaus Staircase">Bauhaus Staircase</a>, both OMD’s most explicitly political record and the crowning achievement of their desire to be both <a href="spotify:artist:5PkKmEWhfJ9jHVHXbZl0Ks" data-name="Karlheinz Stockhausen">Karlheinz Stockhausen</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV" data-name="ABBA">ABBA</a>.

The love shown for the last record meant there were doubts about making a new album at all. “The fans and the critics said: ‘You can put Punishment up against their best work’ and rated it next to <a href="spotify:album:6bR98XzGnklTORDvZ7Oc2i" data-name="Architecture And Morality">Architecture And Morality</a> or <a href="spotify:album:0cfgErKiWFnCFuJ51UMfJJ" data-name="Dazzle Ships">Dazzle Ships</a>,” notes Paul Humphreys.

McCluskey explains: “We’ve worked hard to rebuild ourselves since reforming, and we’re in a wonderful position. We wouldn’t forgive ourselves if we released an album where fans said: ‘Oh no, this is the one where they’re a pastiche of themselves.&#39; ”

“We might be seen as ‘heritage’, but we’re not going to make a new album just so we can have a new logo on our T-shirts,” insists McCluskey. “I’m very happy with what we’ve done on this record. I’m comfortable if this is OMD’s last statement.”