Lost Sirens

Ordeals for New Order and their fans are over

Fans of New Order had been going through tough times until not long ago. The ensemble was delivering all kinds of news, except purely music news. The falling out with Peter Hook led to a great deal of problems, from banal trade of unpleasant commentaries in media to copyright court hearings. In the meantime, followers of the famous band were forced to watch this happen, keeping a fragile faith in hearts that one day the musicians would return to their primary business and New Order would say the unsaid. Actually, this did happen in the end. Starting from 2011, the English outfit has been touring countries with gigs, albeit, without renegade Hook, who does not want to have anything to do with his former colleagues and fellows. However, to call this reunion a true big-time comeback, New Order issued in early 2013 a record called Lost Sirens, a CD, by its form and content, balancing between a full-length effort and a big EP.

Songs which waited for so long

Lost Sirens will not tell you what kind of music New Order can and want to write today. The given CD is a collection of what was left over during studio sessions which took place almost ten years ago. In other words, these are the songs that failed to get selected for Waiting For The Sirens’ Call (2005). But do not think that this is mediocre material. The musicians knew from the start that these songs deserved to be presented to listeners, and simply put them aside until later. Lost Sirens is a great sample of New Order’s late period style with guitar based rock and support from soft electronic and dance drive. The band’s fans will be happy, also, to hear Hook’s bass lines, one of the record’s best decorations. Yet, the biggest focus is drawn to Bernard Sumner whose voice seems to be just as clean and emotional as it used to be. That’s his singing and verse’s beautiful tune that make the opener I’ll Stay With You quite a promising start. Once you heart it you might believe that there has not been any breakup, and 2013 is a distant future. The other seven tracks work at various paces and not always remind of classic New Order, but all give as impressive a result.

Lost Sirens is a look into the past with a faith in the future

Again, how much energy, how many interesting ideas New Order shared ten years ago! Even Lost Sirens, where many may think only loser songs are collected, there are no fillers at all. It gives a clear picture that the ensemble was standing at a crossroad back then and was open to various options of how to enrich their sound. Sugarcane, and Shake It Up are slightly more into dance and electronic, Hellbent, and Californian Grass bet on tunefulness, I’ve Got A Feeling utilizes loud basses and smashing pop-styled choruses. In general, Lost Sirens does not have enough tracks to make far-reaching or serious conclusions about the band’s prospects, since the material is not fresh. The record should rather be taken as a welcome call from the band which reminds that the musicians are back on track. Free of stylistic revelations, of songs that look to revolutionize the band’s music, Lost Sirens, still, is a decent and proper record to be enjoyed over and over again.