When Peter Hook decided to take his ball back and leave New Order amid a hail of back-biting and bitchy remarks in the press, we all knew it was only a matter of time before the band’s leader Bernard Sumner would emerge with new material. Mercifully choosing to release his songs under the moniker of Bad Lieutenant instead of his old band (a lesson that Axl Rose and, erm, Boney M would well do to learn) the record is a timely reminder of why we loved the singer’s songs of isolation, awkwardness and hedonism in the first place.
You see, when New Order returned at the start of the century, they had lost some of the mystique that made them such a compelling band in the ‘80s. Out went the crazy drum beats and artsy covers and in came biopics starring yer man from Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps and versions of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ that were soulless and flaccid. Thankfully, it seems like those demons of the past have well and truly been exorcised, and Never Cry Another Tear features some of Sumner’s best work in a decade. ‘Sink Or Swim’ is a superb slice of outsider pop, ‘Summer Days’ is a powerful call to arms and even the soppy ballad ‘Head Into Tomorrow’ isn’t as bad as you’d expect. There’s no escaping the fact that none of these songs are on a par with ‘True Faith’ or ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, but it’s a step in the right direction. Over to you Hooky...