English Electric | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | ||||
Released | 5 April 2013 | |||
Recorded | Motor Museum Studio (Liverpool), Bleepworks (London) | |||
Genre | Synthpop | |||
Length | 43:05 | |||
Label | BMG, 100% | |||
Producer | OMD | |||
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology | ||||
|
||||
Singles from English Electric | ||||
|
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 76/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The Arts Desk | |
Consequence of Sound | |
Exclaim! | (7/10) |
Express | (4/5) |
The Irish Times | |
Magnet | |
Mojo | |
musicOMH | |
PopMatters | (8/10) |
English Electric is the twelfth studio album by English synthpop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), and their second since the 2006 reformation of the band. Preceded by lead single "Metroland" on 25 March 2013, it was released on 5 April 2013 by 100% Records and peaked at #12 in the United Kingdom, becoming the group's highest-charting record in their home country since 1991's Sugar Tax; the album topped the UK Indie Chart. As with comeback release History of Modern (2010), English Electric was a Top 10 hit in Germany, reaching #10. It also made #8 on the Dance/Electronic Albums Billboard chart in the United States.
On 14 January 2013, the band announced details of the album release date, track listing, and a teaser video featuring the short Dazzle Ships-esque track "Decimal". The album will be released on CD, deluxe CD+DVD, heavyweight vinyl LP, a collector's tin boxset, and also digitally.
The track "Kissing the Machine" was originally featured on the 1993 album Esperanto by Elektric Music, a project by Karl Bartos after he left Kraftwerk. The track, co-written with Andy McCluskey, was completely reworked by Paul Humphreys for English Electric, and features Claudia Brücken as the voice of the machine. The track "Stay With Me" features Humphreys on vocals for the first time since the release of 1988 "Dreaming" B-side "Gravity Never Failed".
The video for "Atomic Ranch" premiered on Pitchfork Media on 4 February 2013. The video is the second of three animations by Henning M. Lederer which will be available on the bonus DVD of English Electric.