Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
History of modern

After a prolonged silence filled only with compilations, collections, and various reissues, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - now once again known by the more immediate acronym OMD - return with a bang with an official album: History of Modern.

An album presented with an abstract-geometric cover that hardly suits the style of Andy McCluskey's band and doesn't quite reflect the atmospheres of this work, clearly aimed at recapturing that state of melancholic wonder that made "Organisation" (their most successful album from 1980) a milestone of synth-pop and new wave in general. Melancholic wonder that emerges only occasionally in the substantial tracklist of this CD, replete with analog synths and freewheeling guitars, blending with retro-flavored four-quarter rhythms and vocal melodies that don't add anything sensational to the group's fluctuating career; and they become a sort of celebration of the good old days in a nostalgic key.

Certainly, the quality level of the recordings and the execution is up to date; the music flows with a pleasant and powerful dynamic... but the blend of inspiration and structure of the songs echoes Kraftwerk and early Depeche Mode, with splashes of Gary Numan, Human League, and of course early OMD. All with a triumphant backdrop that tempers the ancestral and dreamlike impressions of historic tracks like "Statues" or "Promise," true pearls from their early years. Here we hear synthetic rides like "New Babies New Toys" or "History of Modern - Part II" that have nothing ancestral and, if anything, showcase verses that aim to be poignant in interpretation but end up tedious over time.

Sporadic episodes remain "Sometimes," more balanced and with a male-female vocal duet, and "Bondage of Fate," which closely mirrors Cocteau Twins and certain Delerium in the dreampop approach of sounds and vocalizations. The rest fails to find its peak of clarity that would give luster to this big comeback album.

Missing, of course, is the gem of gems: and so the glories of "Enola Gay" are lost in the abyss of decades, demonstrating that certain strokes of genius hit the mark once in a lifetime and are tied to an era.

Admirable is the group's goodwill to demonstrate cohesion and a remarkable production effort. However, the synthetic new wave seems truly dead and buried. After all, it's been 30 years since "Organisation"!