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Apr 10, 2013 OMD By Austin Trunick

Some bands run a cosmic treadmill trying to keep pace with current trends; others are content to keep mining the formulas that brought on their biggest successes. This “classic lineup” of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark-on hiatus from 1986-2006-seemed fine to pick up right where they left off.

Their second album since reforming sounds even more old school than 2010’s History of Modern. The Kraftwerk-influenced digital tracks and Andy McCluskey’s airy, romantic vocals give way to well-crafted electro pop in a familiar mold. The production is better, but chances are English Electric wouldn’t have sounded all that different had they written it in 1987. What’s wrong with going back to the well, if the well has yet to dry up? Even the cheesy robotic instructions that open the record seem to cheekily acknowledge this arrested development: “The future you anticipated has been canceled/Please remain seated and wait for further instructions.” (www.omd.uk.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10