New Order
Music Complete

Raise your hand if you would have bet, after the bad turn taken by the dispute between Peter Hook and his old bandmates, that new material would be released under the name New Order. Yet, it has, and the result of "Music Complete" can be viewed from different perspectives. Point of view A: Hooky has never been so present because of his absence. He can't be replaced with just any Tom, and it would have been better to produce material under a different guise (see Bad Lieutenant), as Hooky himself argues through his lawyers. Point of view B: the others hold the brand and do as they please. A new pope has been elected, and they are even happy to have stopped fighting among themselves. Point of view C: the album is something never done before. Only in the single "Restless" and a little elsewhere echoes the typical sound of the Mancunians, and here and there you hear echoes of Giorgio Moroder and even Chic, with a phrasing that even harks back to ABC's "The Night You Murdered Love." Point of view D: "Restless," "Singularity," and "Plastic," the opening trio of tracks, fill the airwaves and surprise fans with the new vitality of the group, who have returned to themes so dear to "Technique," and light-years away from the latest productions of 2001 and 2005. The rest is at times sparkling, like "Superheated" (more akin to the production of Electronic, Bernard Sumner's other armed arm), "Nothing But A Fool," and "Academic." Point of view E (mine): it's a great album, the best from the group in 25 years, even if easy dancefloor episodes like "Tutti Frutti" and "People On The High Line" are disorienting. In an authoritative review on a UK magazine, it was written that New Order have opened a new front, headed towards the light. In my opinion, the darkness was preserved intact only with "Movement," the first chapter of the post-Joy Division. But such joyful light in the compositions, it's true, is a novelty. Whether it will be liked or not, I don't know. If you want to hop in the car with me, however, "Superheated" will take you to your destination smiling.