OMD’s New Studio Album Details

OMD’s 2013 album English Electric was hailed as a successful outing for the classic synth-pop outfit.

However, there were concerns that the band might be in danger of calling it a day following its release.

In an interview back in 2013, Paul Humphreys remarked on the dilemma that he and Andy McCluskey faced: “We said to each other ‘I don’t think we can do this again’”. At last year’s Electri_City book talk in Liverpool, Andy remarked that after writing songs for nearly 40 years it was becoming difficult to find something new to write about.

At the same time, there were other issues facing the band in the wake of the post-reformation release History Of Modern. Andy had previously made it very clear that the reformation of OMD wouldn’t simply consist of nostalgia performances and that unless there was some artistic engine prompting the band to move forward, there would be little point in continuing. “…Paul and I sat down and said “OK, we don’t want to be a nostalgic heritage act. Nor, however, is it sufficient for us to just write a nice collection of songs in the style of OMD.”

In fact much of the ‘engine’ that drove the production of English Electric was a desire to explore what the future sounded like. But having now explored that idea, the question of whether or not the band should or indeed could continue was a valid one.

Luckily, ideas and sketches for a potential followup soon began to emerge. Although much of those details were sparse, a picture has begun to form about what OMD’s new album – now titled The Punishment Of Luxury – would be like.

In a special feature, our sister site Messages explores The Punishment Of Luxury. [Messages]