Movement (New Order album)

Untitled

Movement was New Order's debut album, released in November 1981 on Factory Records. The album wasn't particularly well received by critics or consumers, only peaking at #30 on the UK album charts. Closer, an album the band had released just over a year before as Joy Division, reached #6.

History

After the death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis and the subsequent shock for those surrounding him, the remaining members of the band elected to carry on, albeit under a new name - New Order. With the exception of two songs 'Ceremony' and 'In a Lonely Place' (unrecorded at the time of Curtis's death), all the material played would be new.

A couple of songs on 'Movement' stem from the initial songwriting session the band undertook in the summer of 1980. 'Dreams Never End' and 'Truth' were both played at the initial New Order concerts (still played as trio) in the US that September. At this point it was still undecided as to who should be vocalist. The interim solution was that all three members took turns at singing before finally deciding that Sumner should take the main vocalist's role with Hook as back-up (though he takes lead on 'Dreams Never End' and 'Doubts Even Here'). The introduction in November 1980 of Gillian Gilbert, Morris's girlfriend, lightened the burden on Sumner to have to play guitar and sing (something he found impossible to do simultaneously) and enabled the band to pursue a more electronic approach. Subsequently the remainder of the songs that appeared on 'Movement' were written and then recorded over a seven month period "in two big bits, and a whole lot of little bits" (Sumner's words), as well as 'Mesh', 'Cries and Whispers' (both early live staples and used as B-sides), 'Procession' and 'Everything's Gone Green', the latter forming a non-album single released as FAC53 in September 1981.

The producer of the album was once again Martin Hannett, who had worked with them as Joy Division. However the rappore between producer and band had in the ensuing time eroded. Hannett was in a legal dispute with Factory Records and suffering from substance and alcohol abuse, and the band members - themselves still coming to terms with having to write and arrange songs without Curtis's ear and lyric-writing ability - found him uncooperative. It was to be the last time they worked together.

As noted above, upon its release in November 1981 - just weeks after the Joy Division retrospective/live double album 'Still' - the album met with a lukwarm reception, with critics disappointed by what was perceived to be a lack of forward momentum after the 'Ceremony' single. It is rumoured that the band considered either re-mixing or even entirely re-recording the album, but time and financial constraints prevented this. In the event, a new song - 'Temptation' - would provide the band with the necessary impetus and a new direction.

Sound

As hinted above, the strained relationship between artist and producer mars the sound of the album, which has a certain 'grey' feel to it. (Compare four of 'Movement's songs recorded for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show in January 1981 to the album itself to clarify this comment). Musically, 'Movement' is a transitional album between the group's previous work as Joy Division and their 'mature' sound as witnessed on 'Blue Monday' and 'Power, Corruption and Lies' onwards. References to Ian Curtis are almost inevitable, appearing on 'ICB' (Ian Curtis Buried) and 'The Him', while the song 'Doubts Even Here' (featuring both Hook and towards the end Gilbert on vocals) attempts to match the grace and brutality of Joy Division songs such as 'Atmosphere' and 'Atrocity Exhibition'.

However differences to what came before are also apparent - 'Dreams Never End' is a surprisingly upbeat track and indeed the only one comprising of the classic guitar-bass-drums line up. 'Senses' flirts with guitar motifs funkier than anything before it, while the expansion of the sonic palette witnessed on 'Closer' continues here with synths on all but the opening track, electronic percussion (especially on 'Truth') and Hook's bass taking on a melodic role while Gilbert provides the low end, such as on 'Chosen Time' and 'Denial'. The staple of many later New Order works - the sequencer - is however not present; the first track to incorporate them - 'Everything's Gone Green' - was written at the same time but released separately as a single.

Artwork

The album's cover was designed by Peter Saville and is based on a Futurist poster by Fortunato Depero. 'F' refers to Factory Records / Factory Communications Limited and 'L' the roman numeral 50 - the album being classified as FAC50. The blue colour was chosen by the band, although initial copies in America had the same design with a white background.

Track listing

(all songs written by New Order)

1. "Dreams Never End" – 3:13
2. "Truth" – 4:37
3. "Senses" – 4:45
4. "Chosen Time" – 4:07
5. "ICB" – 5:25
6. "The Him" – 5:29
7. "Doubts Even Here" – 4:16
8. "Denial" – 4:20

Personnel

• Bernard Sumner; Vocals, guitars, melodica, synthesizers & programming
• Peter Hook; 4 & 6 stringed bass, vocals ('Dreams Never End', 'Doubts Even Here')
• Gillian Gilbert: Synthesizers, guitars, spoken words ('Doubts Even Here')
• Stephen Morris: Drums, synthesizers & programming
• Martin Hannett: Production
• Chris Nagle: Engineering
• John and Flood: Assistants

Release details

• UK 12" – Factory Records (FACT 50)
• UK cassette – Factory Records (FACT 50C)
• UK CD (1993 re-release) – London Records (520 018-2)

Chart positions

• UK – #30

See also

• New Order discography

External links

• Movement on New Order Online
• Movement on World in Motion