History Of Modern [Part I]

One of the reasons Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark have called their brand new album - their eleventh - History of Modern is because they are acutely aware of what it is they're doing with this release. On paper, this is the UK synth-pop pioneers' first new material since 1996, but in spirit, History of Modern has more in common with the group's early '80s heyday, when 'Enola Gay' and 'Souvenir,' penned by two teenage Krautrock fans from the Wirral, lit up the charts and set the agenda for a bold new movement in British electronic music. 'We were trying to be modern,' says Andy, pointing out that, in 1980, OMD were one of the first acts to use a sampler. 'After architecture, art and design, popular music was the last of the great modernist movements, and we were genuinely trying to do something new. Quite how we thought we were going to change the world with three-and-a-half-minute pop songs, I don't know, but we thought we could.' Fast forward thirty years to the reunited OMD of 2010 and it's clear that that sense of mischief and youthful idealism still fuels the group. 'I suppose the nice thing is that, just like in the early days, we made this record simply because we fancied making a record,' says Andy. 'There was no pressure to make a record in order to sell records and sustain a career. It was like making a first album again.'