New Order - Waiting For The Sirens' Call

New Order - Waiting For The Sirens' Call

By

Jesse E. Mullen 

New Order spent £700,000, three years, and used nine producers making Waiting For The Sirens' Call. I'd say it was time - and money - well spent. 

The finished product has a clean, crisp, and - surprisingly - unified sound, despite its scattershot origins. Released in the spring of 2005, listeners were treated to a refinement of the kind of indiepop New Order do best. 

Stylistically, the album alternates between the three-guitar attack of "Who's Joe," "Working Overtime," and "Morning Night And Day," while also returning to New Order's gothier roots ("Dracula's Castle," "Turn.")

Lead single "Krafty" splits the difference, owing a great debt to - and taking its name  from - their heroes Kraftwerk. The blippy synthesizers and robotic rhythms would make them proud. 

The title track is possibly an even more majestic anthem, with a bold, capital B-I-G chorus. Inspired by Bernard Sumner's love of sailing, the track also deals with romantic strife and infidelity. 

Peter Hook's 4 and 6-string bass playing shines as a melodic highlight, as does Sumner's jangly rhythm guitar playing.

Upon release, reviewers seemed to have expected more from the group. I'm not sure how the album could have been better. 

Maybe they wanted a leftfield turn the way that Technique adapted acid house beats, or the surprise element of New Order's energetic comeback album, 2001's Get Ready. 

But neither would have been appropriate for the group in 2005 - the Haçienda was closed, and New Order were a fully functional band again. The stakes had been raised unfairly. 

While there are other highs to New Order's discography, Waiting For The Sirens' Call shows refined maturity for these grisled veterans that only years of woodshedding can bring. We've still never seen anyone quite like them before - to quote an earlier hit - and we probably never will.

Warner Bros./2005