Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: English Electric

It may be decades since a new Kraftwerk album, but their influence remains powerful. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries are a case in point. While it would be simplistic to write English Electric off as mere Trans Europe Express pastiche – the air of wistfulness is very much an OMD original – the group’s second post-comeback album unquestionably has a foot in the age of hulking analogue synthesizers and earnest songs about people being replaced by robots. There’s even a tune called ‘Kissing The Machine’, which evokes direct comparisons with ‘Computer Love’.

For all its retro-techno obsessions, though, in many ways this is a big-hearted project, with OMD quite consciously trying to give their fanbase what it wants: songs that hark back vividly to their best loved smashes and do it in style. In that respect, there are echoes of the new Bowie LP, a project that similarly mined the artist’s catalogue in a deliberate act of self-appropriation. Still, Bowie is Bowie and OMD, even at their very best, didn’t quite scale the same heights. There are some lovely moments here – ‘Night Cafe’ and ‘Helen Of Troy’ are superb, must-includes in their next Best Of – but the consistency isn’t quite there to make this a truly heart-stopping record..

Key Track: ‘Night Cafe’