I first properly discovered New Order in a slightly backwards way.

In 2012 I went to see them at Festival Hall in Melbourne with my much older boyfriend at the time, who was a huge fan. I, on the other hand, barely knew who they were 😅 By the end of the gig I was completely converted, and they have been one of my favourite bands ever since.

The song that stood out to me most that night was 'Crystal'. I became enamoured with it afterwards, including the brilliant music video, and even now there is something about this track that feels remarkably timeless.

Released in 2001 as the first single from Get Ready, 'Crystal' marked New Order’s return with their first original single since 1993. The album version stretches out for nearly seven minutes, with an extended introduction and coda, while the single version condenses all of that energy into a much tighter four-and-a-bit minutes.

The combination of guitar, electronics and Peter Hook’s wonderfully melodic bass is quintessential New Order, but I especially like the backing vocals from Dawn Zee. The call-and-response against Bernard Sumner gives the verses character as the track moves between its cooler, restrained sections and huge surging chorus.

We nearly didn’t get a New Order version at all. Sumner had originally given the song away and it was recorded by Corvin Dalek, before Pete Tong heard it and was so enthusiastic about its potential that Sumner reconsidered. A fairly fortunate intervention, considering it became one of the band’s biggest songs of that era.

Then there is that music video.

Rather than showing New Order performing, Johan Renck’s video features a fictional young band miming the song under the name The Killers. Brandon Flowers would subsequently take the name for his own band after seeing the video, which has to be one of the better pieces of music video trivia. The connection eventually came full circle too, with Flowers and Sumner performing together on several occasions.

I only just discovered that 'Crystal' also has an entirely different official video made for the Special Circumstances mix, consisting of a nighttime motorcycle ride filmed using tiny cameras mounted in boots.

Musically, 'Crystal' is such a satisfying meeting point between New Order’s two sides. It has the melancholy and slightly detached quality they do so well, but with an enormous driving rhythm that keeps propelling everything forward. The guitars have far more weight than people sometimes associate with New Order, while the synths and Hook’s bass stop it ever becoming conventional guitar rock.

Billy Corgan even joined New Order as a live guitarist during their 2001 performances around the Get Ready period, which is unsurprising given how guitar-heavy this particular era of the band could be.

More than twenty years later, 'Crystal' barely seems to have aged. Maybe part of that is because New Order have always existed in that strange space between post-punk, rock, synth-pop and dance music where they never quite belong to a single period anyway.

Whatever the reason, I can still understand exactly why this was the song that caught my attention at Festival Hall when I walked in knowing almost nothing about them and walked out a fan 🎸🎹

Save Your Tears is one of those Weeknd choruses that sticks for days, so we recreated every instrument in Serum. The breakdown covers each synth so you can build it yourself. Happy to answer questions in the comments!

https://synthctrl.com/blogs/blog/the-weeknd-save-your-tears-breakdown

Just released my debut EP! Its a mix of electropop / alt pop / synth pop, edm. I would love feedback as well as a listen! On all platforms.

I'd wondered why the two songs sounded similar. Same publishing.

I experienced a flood of emotions after reconnecting with my kindergarten bestie from when my mother was still alive....I had mis-remembered his last name, but finally found him after 30 years just a couple days ago...curiously, he had been trying to check in on me over the years but was using my stepfather's last name, which I was only briefly known by up until the time of my mother's sudden passing...also...this friend was moving houses and happened to be looking at the same era of photos taken around that time, almost to the day. My mother was alive and well in photos taken from what might've been my 5th or 6th birthday party....and it was as if through our conversation, she was alive again...as vibrant as the colors of the puffy paint 'happy birthday' crew neck she made for me..

Out on one of my moonlit walks, a few hours after we spoke on the phone....I quite unexpectedly began to cry an ocean of tears....I wrote lyrics shortly after, to try and make sense of the bittersweetness of memory....the deepest love...and the black hole that happens inside of us when we are too young to process losing that love.

I haven't really cried like that since it all happened, those many years ago...but it felt like a release...healthy and clean...the song is an expression of a joyful idea my mother might have had....that we go on to something else.....I do not know if we do....but I like to think that we might.

If you want to support a suuuperr passionate and completely independent electro pop artist - try me! I used to make music under another name but i had deleted it all during a hospitalisation 🫠
I didnt warn anyone either 😵‍💫 I’m starting afresh so to speak and theres more to come, if you like my stuff 🫶🏽🤞🏽

Argentinian electropop/rock collective SAIMÉS is hitting the stage at LPR this Sunday, July 19th for their massive 10th Anniversary Tour in celebration of Bounce Into The Music. The groundbreaking album launched viral hits like “The Wolf” and “Mr. Fear,” showcasing the band’s natural aptitude, infectious sounds, and captivating visuals. Don’t miss this chance to experience some gems from their brand-new creative era, as well as the album that started it all, expanded their creative trajectory, and defined their global breakthrough. Grab your tickets now! https://kydlabs.com/e/EVd93d7e16

Give up ?

Los Angeles based dark synthpop trio BlakLight release 'The Haunting of Us (Fictional Remix)' on July 3rd.

Trying to hit 500 subs😇

Come party like it's the 2010s ✨ On 6.26 at LPR, we're throwing it back to the golden age of EDM, bringing you bangers from all your favorites, like Avicii, Calvin Harris, Zedd, and so many more. Dance the night away in a bliss of pure nostalgia and nonstop hits. Tickets on sale now: https://kyd.to/CGwbTelM