New Order ‎– Movement

4,5/5

By all means this was dangerously constructed as Joy Division's "next studio album" that never was, at least not at the time of that group, due to the now well-known, sad circumstances considering Curtis's death.

The elements are all there, including that ultimate sadness and their lead singer's ghostly presence - Morris's amazing drum work and Hook's rather one-dimensional but impressive stabbing bass lines, with discrete, menacing synthesiser filtering - all now fully adopted in the mix... and of course, the omnipresent dictator Martin Hannett, handling the production.

The legend has it - both parties didn't enjoy much this studio experience between themselves - Hannett never really liked others apart from Curtis with whom he formed the strongest link. But with Curtis gone, the rest were for some reason obliged to record the follow up album with their in-house producer, and felt rather forced in his cold effects' carboard box.

Not that it reflected negatively on the very material. 'Movement' is a logical progression from 'Closer' - although the album cannot shake off the claustrophobic feel of its predecessor, struggling to sound only less rudimentary, it's a masterpiece in its own right - musically equally more consistent. Now penned under 'New Order' (which is a clever move to leave 'Joy Division' altogether to rest in peace), 'Movement' offers 8 songs with audible impression of a band struggling to escape the conformism of Hannett's dominating sound techniques.

Previous to this, their debut album, New Order already released a 12" featuring two "covers" - truly sad, merciless heart-and-soul gripping 'In A Lonely Place' and a bit more upbeat 'Ceremony', both of which were originally Joy Division standards, but sadly never materialised in their original form with Ian (at least not as studio versions; 'Ceremony' exists in a number of live recordings - usually credited as 'New One' (only partially to be documented on posthumous 'Still' compilation), while years later, 'In a Lonely Place' was discovered to exist in a very rough unfinished rehearsal take, included for its deserved documentary value on Joy Division's expanded 'Heart & Soul' box set). One can only imagine what beauty would have emerged from it, if Joy Division ever put out that particular song on vinyl properly.

Still, New Order transformed these songs' atmosphere to their brilliant heights, particularly making 'In a Lonely Place' their ideal new starting point - as a posthumous farewell note to their former selves as well as to their deceased bandmate. With artistic promise and will to make a step forward from the gloomy shades of grey, 'Movement' marks only little of what was about to become of New Order - and most of this 'very little' is reflecting in the wake of drum machines that inform some of the tracks on their debut album; 'Truth' and 'Doubts Even Here'. The vocals are still a cry from Barney's later lethargic paper thin singing, bearing a strong connection to Joy Division; the opening song 'Dreams Never End' in particular adds to the confusion element of this album - entirely sang by Hook (who proved to have much stronger vocals then Barney's), it can very easily be confused with Curtis.

The eponymous record sleeve ready-made by Peter Saville from Fortunato Depero's Futurist poster, in blue tone, reflects the melancholic (if not entirely dark) mood of the lot - while 'Dreams Never End' kicks off in a more optimistic tone, the rest of the album is far more sad and prevailing slow pace (despite the energetic, excellent songs 'Chosen Time' and 'Denial'). Hannett adds a little bit more of cold dub effects ('Truth', plus equally fascinating 'Senses' with its soft, droning bass tone) to blur the rawness of most songs which only added to the excellence of the album. Further highlights of this post-Division affair are undoubtedly 'ICB'; sad but groovy - a necessary tribute to their former lead-singer, and 'The Him', which forms a sequel, with interesting arrangement shifts as the song progresses - thrilling and chilling at the same time. Listening to 'The Him' is very close to a non-descript "black mass" situation that erupts into complete, deserved chaos.

In all, it's a well deserved anthological gem - impressive collection of 'goodbyes' and 'hellos' all at once. Something the group just had to do before resurfacing onto the music scene completely anew. In 1982, New Order were already free from their past to experiment more freely with their sound - while the excellent 'Everything's Gone Green' (coupled with 'Cries and Whispers' and the beautiful 'Procession') still bears the burden of the group's coping with Hannett, it's also the first set of songs they feel determined to preface the things to come; their first set of Peel Sessions plus some new cuts (early version of '5-8-6', plus 'Temptation' and somewhat clumsy 'Hurt'). Recommended listen all this, and not just for a New Order die-hard fan.

This is probably the least played of New Order's albums and is something of a staging post between the old and the new sounds. All the elements that would bring them success are in place. The intensity remains from the Joy Division sound as well as the space within the music. The production, thanks to Martin Hannett and the band themselves sounds incredible.

At this point Sumner vocals are stuggling for their own sound, on Movement he sounds like he's trying to approximate Ian Curtis, its not till later singles that he really finds his own voice. All that's missing from Movement are the tunes that characterise later releases, only Dreams Never End hints at the bright poppiness to come.

This is very much a winter record, sounds good driving around in the car in the city at night, an interesting release in view of the direction the band took in later years.