{"id":29750,"date":"2017-09-01T08:54:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T07:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=29750"},"modified":"2017-09-01T09:16:10","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T08:16:10","slug":"music-for-the-masses-art-and-consumerism-inspire-new-album-by-synth-pop-pioneers-omd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2017\/09\/music-for-the-masses-art-and-consumerism-inspire-new-album-by-synth-pop-pioneers-omd\/","title":{"rendered":"MUSIC FOR THE MASSES – Art And Consumerism Inspire New Album By Synth-Pop Pioneers OMD"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Incredibly,\u00a0OMD have been making music for nearly 40 years now and\u00a0The Punishment Of Luxury<\/em> is their 13th studio album.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It’s a varied collection that sees them again refusing to trade on past glories, tackling complex themes with invention and not a little humour.<\/h4>\n

Fittingly, much of the album takes it cue from the title track, named after a 19th century painting by Italian Giovani Segantini.<\/p>\n

An arch satire on consumerism, it’s a full bloodied assault on the senses – the extravagant sheen of the music reinforcing the emptiness and artifice of a world driven by marketing and greed.<\/p>\n

Setting the tone for much of what follows, it’s smart, cynical, but unapologetically poppy – the songwriting duo of Andy McCluskey<\/strong> and\u00a0Paul Humphreys<\/strong>\u00a0retaining their knack for writing catchy tunes.<\/p>\n

The influence of synth granddaddies\u00a0Kraftwerk<\/strong> looms large on\u00a0Robot Man<\/strong><\/em> and the epic\u00a0Isotypes<\/strong><\/em>, while\u00a0What Have We Done<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0One More Time<\/strong><\/em> and\u00a0The View From Here\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>demonstrate OMD’s talent for injecting warmth and emotion into machine-made melodies.<\/p>\n

Talk of cold facades and cruel veneers\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>sees the band moving into darker territory on the excellent As We Open, So We Close<\/strong><\/em>, but McCluskey’s at his most vitriolic on the biting\u00a0Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“Fuck you and your theory,”\u00a0<\/em>he whispers acidly. “Nothing you do can get near me<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Art Eats Art\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>is a playful dance floor-filler, as they used to say in the ’80s – but\u00a0Precision And Decay<\/strong><\/em> is less successful, fizzling out just as it starts to get interesting.<\/p>\n

Another track inspired by a painting, Christopher RW Nevinson’s\u00a0La Mitrailleuse –<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0which translates as The Machine Gun – sees the band creating percussion and melody from simulated weapons fire.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t entirely work, but it’s an interesting experiment nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Versatile and entertaining,\u00a0The Punishment Of Luxury <\/strong><\/em>is a worthy addition to the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark canon.<\/p>\n

The album may not hit all its targets, but like its best track\u00a0Ghost Star –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>a symphonic six-minute pastoral opus – it manages to evoke the past, while still sounding like the future.<\/p>\n