English Electric - OMD
Released 5th April 2013
Track Listing: 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 Bonus iTunes Track: 13. No Man's Land Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly rare to find an album that not only harks back to a band's heyday, but also manages to reveal something new about them; however, OMD's 'English Electric' does just that. It's no surprise then, that it is the group's most successful album since 1991's 'Sugar Tax', combining the beauty of the sound of heavenly choirs and Paul Humphrey's melodies, with the rhythmic pounding of electronic drums and McCluskey's Kraftwerk-like lyrics. Lead single 'Metroland' acts as a wake-up call to the monotony of the modern world- 'we live and we die/we love and we lie/in hope and in plan/consumed in Metroland'- whilst Night Café is a gloriously soaring view into the mind of a man who spends his nights watching the world go by and reminiscing for a lost love. There are odd moments where perhaps self-indulgence takes over, but then it would hardly be an OMD album without one or two tracks like 'Atomic Ranch'. Moments like these are forgotten, however, by the time the listener has reached 'Final Song'- a haunting, hypnotic, almost twisted pseudo-lullaby. 'Electric' indeed.
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This review was originally written for the 'Motion and Heart' website. The original post can be found here: http://www.omd.me.uk/index.php/omd-albums-singles-dvds-video-laser-disc/omd-albums/english-electric
