New Order - Lost Sirens
By: James Hagin
Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, released March 28 2005 was a notable album for New Order. It had a couple singles sold to movies, and one track nominated for a Grammy, even a decent amount of radio play. One of the peaks of the record itself was its sequencing. The album ended on a good note and was only as long as it needed to be. The songs that fed each other were coupled and those that didn’t, singled out. When this good a job is done it does leave you wondering if anything was cut. And as turned out, there was quite a bit left out. These songs have been compiled on to a single album, Lost Sirens. The thing is a mess. One big convoluted mash up of dance tracks and “zone out” songs, Lost Sirens manages to put you into one of those energetic moods but keep you hooked and lazy enough to not actually go out and party. A good example of this would be tacks three and four. Track three “Recoil” starts with a simple soft acoustic guitar track and mellow bass line. The percussion of the song switches between a tambourine and a small jazz kit, and is while noticeable, not progressing the song in anyway. It is the job of the guitars to keep the listener interested (and they do a mediocre job of it too). The song sounds a lot like Muzak Track four “California Grass” is the opposite. The drums are not much louder but they do seem to be doing something for the songs energy something mirrored in an assortment of overlapping guitar tracks with a multitude of effects applied to each one. Not to mention the tempo being just that much faster make whole worlds of difference.
The album progresses in this manner. With every other song feeling up beat and the rest just chill background music for driving in the rain. This as a collection of work that didn’t make the cut makes sense. It can’t stand alone, but if one was looking for just a couple extra tracks to add to a mix tape they could do a lot worse than to look through Lost Sirens.
New Order has created quite a catalogue over the years. The have had a few drastic changes in their sound. Thankfully neither Waiting For The Sirens’ Call or Lost Sirens are examples of this. When bands have been around for a long time a little consistency is important to the group’s ability to create together. If there is an inner argument about whether to be new wave or make rave mixes (and it seems like there is) the band cannot progress. But perhaps progression is what New Order wants. Perhaps they are content. Why is it some important to move forward? There must be something to be said for staying in the same place. Regardless if the place you are in is an inconsistent mess it might be time to give up.
All in all this is still just the leftovers of a halfway decent album. We shouldn’t expect more from it than what it actually has to offer.
The album progresses in this manner. With every other song feeling up beat and the rest just chill background music for driving in the rain. This as a collection of work that didn’t make the cut makes sense. It can’t stand alone, but if one was looking for just a couple extra tracks to add to a mix tape they could do a lot worse than to look through Lost Sirens.
New Order has created quite a catalogue over the years. The have had a few drastic changes in their sound. Thankfully neither Waiting For The Sirens’ Call or Lost Sirens are examples of this. When bands have been around for a long time a little consistency is important to the group’s ability to create together. If there is an inner argument about whether to be new wave or make rave mixes (and it seems like there is) the band cannot progress. But perhaps progression is what New Order wants. Perhaps they are content. Why is it some important to move forward? There must be something to be said for staying in the same place. Regardless if the place you are in is an inconsistent mess it might be time to give up.
All in all this is still just the leftovers of a halfway decent album. We shouldn’t expect more from it than what it actually has to offer.