NME - New Order "Technique" Review - 28 January 1989

NME - SURE BEACH WORKING

NEW ORDER
Technique (Factory LP/ Cassette/CD)

WHAT HAVE New Order been doing since their last studio LP? The creative lull which, despite the odd single, has stretched for what seems like aeons has at last come to a close.

We've been presented with 'Technique', certainly one of New Order‘s most consistent works to date, and one which avoids the usual flaws and imperfections they've borne like minor disabilities since their inception.

It's an impressive polished edifice erected like a monument to a newly-discovered maturity and confidence, shining with the lightness of being. Almost optimistic, in fact.

Gone are the doubts, half-guesses and hesitations which characterised their music for so long. A recurring sense of discovery permeates each song as the spectrum of human emotion is explored and investigated, be it loneliness, inarticulacy, joy or (most essentially) love. 'Technique' doesn't deny the darker experiences of life, but confronts and accepts them, and in so doing triumphs over them.

The key, as ever, is in the music itself: New Order just can't contain themselves, and tumble upwards and overwards in a rollercoaster ride of affirmation. The copious amounts of stimulants enjoyed in the sun of Ibiza have left an enduring impression, helping them to reconcile their public and private selves.

Now they're themselves, only more so: "It takes years to find the nerve to be apart from what you’ve done/To find the truth inside yourself/And not depend on anyone"; states 'All The Way', and this independence from others, from their expectations and assumptions is what 'Technique' so eloquently and excellently celebrates.

Those who were alarmed by the apparent radical change of direction indicated by 'Fine Time' can relax; this is not a recreation of the Balearic experience with New Order playing at being Marshall Jefferson in the comfort of their own studio.

The overwhelming weight of material is fairly traditional New Order, located as we've come to expect along the rock/dance interface, and yet there’s also a distinct flavour of delicious dance. 'Mr Disco', 'Vanishing Point' and of course ‘Fine Time' flirt heavily with the other side of New Order, the New Order influenced much by mid to late '70s disco and contemporary House.

'Fine Time' is after all a rather obvious translation of Lipps Inc's 'Funky Town' into modern post-acid parlance, and the title 'Technique' a tongue-in cheek homage to tacky disco-speak.

The tensions between the two sides of the bank, between the rock stance and dance fascination, has never been greater. Yet this is one of the record’s strengths, as the different currents keep the creative focus sharp and inhibit any mood of complacency from creeping into the music.

Besides, the mood of the lyrics unifies the disparate elements of the sound, and the unifying theme is emphatically one of love.

Never before has Barney written so obsessively and continually of love. As if eager to explore this emotion from all aspects of its unpredictable axis, he investigates the pain and hate as well as the joy and freedom inherent in any relationship.

The words are unsurprisingly haphazard but the method writing - quickly, hurriedly in the last few hours of studio time - is the closest to (understandable) automatic writing we’re likely to get from an English pop band. And automatic writing is, naturally, the best way of expressing unconscious obsessions.

New Order's lay off has provided them with enough space to grow and develop, personally and artistically. In the ferment of their withdrawal they've fashioned an LP of unflinching honesty, free from the masks and false identities of their past.

'Technique' cuts through the disguises they've created and those they've had thrust upon them, and reveals a talented, unmysterious foursome, unafraid to face the fact that they too can have a good time.

And this is a very fine time indeed. (9)

John Tague