The Punishment of Luxury (album)

The Punishment of Luxury is the thirteenth studio album by English electronic music band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), and the third since their 2006 reformation. Produced by OMD, it was released on 1 September 2017 by 100% Records subsidiary White Noise.[1] In July of that year, the band commenced a tour of North America and Europe in support of the record.[2]

The Punishment of Luxury
Studio album by
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Released1 September 2017 (2017-09-01)
Studio
  • Bleepworks
  • Northern Electric
GenreSynth-pop
Length42:08
LabelWhite Noise
ProducerOMD
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology
English Electric
(2013)		 The Punishment of Luxury
(2017)
Singles from The Punishment of Luxury
  1. "Isotype"
    Released: 29 May 2017
  2. "The Punishment of Luxury"
    Released: 19 July 2017
  3. "What Have We Done"
    Released: 18 September 2017
  4. "One More Time (Fotonovela version)"
    Released: 16 February 2018

The Punishment of Luxury met with favourable reviews. It debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart with 9,894 copies sold in its first week,[3] making it the band's first album to reach the top 10 in their home country since 1991's Sugar Tax; the record topped the UK Independent Albums Chart. It reached the top 10 on various European charts, as well as on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums and Independent Albums charts in the United States.

Background

Toward completion of the gruelling recording sessions for English Electric (2013), there were internal doubts about the band's future. Morale had risen after several months of touring the album, however. Keyboardist Paul Humphreys said in August 2013: "We're already talking about what we should be doing next. We've got a great idea for a new album actually."[4] By the turn of 2015, writing of the album had "started in earnest", with song titles "The Punishment of Luxury" and "Evolution of Species" being announced[5] (the latter did not make the album).

The Punishment of Luxury takes its name from a 1891 painting by Italian artist Giovanni Segantini.[1] In December 2016, OMD frontman Andy McCluskey expounded: "We've taken that idea and extrapolated it into sort of... a metaphor for modern life, really. First world problems. All of the shit we have to deal with is only a problem that's created for you by some suggestion that came from a marketing man or a PR job that's been done on you."[6]

Humphreys said of the album's musical direction: "We're still trying to maintain our connection with our roots, but we've tried to go a bit more, even more stripped-down than English Electric." McCluskey added: "There's a little bit more sort of crunchy industrial sound in a few things, a bit glitchy-er. But you know, the bottom line is that we have a sense of melody that we just can't throw off."[6] In May 2017, McCluskey noted the band's use of "noises and repetitive patterns".[1]

"Robot Man", a song about emotional honesty, is an homage to English musician and producer Daniel Miller. It was inspired by Miller's 1978 composition, "Warm Leatherette".[7]

The track "La Mitrailleuse" (French for "The Machinegun")[2] was released on 15 May;[1] its Henning M. Lederer-directed video is based on the 1915 painting by Christopher R. W. Nevinson after which the song is named.[2] The album's first official single, "Isotype", premiered on 29 May and was made available for digital download and streaming the day after. The album's title track was released as the second single on 19 July. "What Have We Done", the only track on the album to feature Humphreys on lead vocals, was released as the third single on 18 September, along with an extended version of the song.[8] A remixed version of "One More Time" followed on 16 February 2018.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The A.V. ClubB+[11]
Classic Pop[12]
Gigwise[13]
The Irish Times[14]
musicOMH[15]
PopMatters[16]
The Press[17]
Uncut7/10[18]
Under the Radar[19]

The Punishment of Luxury received generally favourable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album garnered an average score of 71, based on 10 reviews.[9] Jennifer Gannon of The Irish Times called it "synth-pop at its most charming and effortless",[14] while AllMusic critic Tim Sendra described the record as "another strong showing from a band that could have packed it in years ago and become a nostalgia act, but have instead continued to make fine pop art".[10] Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club remarked that, "In the wrong hands, this kind of thing could come across as heavy-handed or detached, but The Punishment of Luxury exudes warmth and empathy throughout".[11]

In PopMatters, John Bergstrom said the record's "less-than-fresh" anti-consumerism sentiment renders it a "good album rather than a great one", but noted that much of the material is "on par with the band's best".[16] Lorelei Reddin of the Hampshire Chronicle suggested that The Punishment of Luxury was misinterpreted and somewhat underrated by critics, writing: "This isn't some banal, [Bill] Hicks-esque "Get a soul!" nuke: it's a plaintive look at the brutal consumerist needle and the damage done. And a bloody terrific record to boot."[20] Particular praise was directed at the six-minute "Ghost Star", which multiple reviewers singled out as the highlight of the album.[11][19][20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey. All tracks produced by OMD.

No.TitleLength
1."The Punishment of Luxury"3:27
2."Isotype"6:11
3."Robot Man"3:00
4."What Have We Done"3:47
5."Precision & Decay"1:44
6."As We Open, So We Close"3:04
7."Art Eats Art"3:21
8."Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang"2:59
9."One More Time"3:07
10."La Mitrailleuse"2:05
11."Ghost Star"6:18
12."The View from Here"3:05

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Punishment of Luxury.[21]

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 28
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 47
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[25] 60
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 95
French Albums (SNEP)[27] 12
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 9
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 28
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[30] 3
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[31] 40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 44
UK Albums (OCC)[34] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[35] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[36] 3
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[37] 7
gollark: ONLY BECAUSE OF STUPID SOFTWARE BLOAT
gollark: AND PHONES ARE PRETTY FAST ALREADY
gollark: IMPROVEMENTS IN PHONE TECHNOLOGY ARE SLOWING DOWN
gollark: THERE IS NO REASON YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP A PHONE FOR 10 YEARS, IN A SOMEWHAT MORE IDEAL WORLD
gollark: OLEDS ARE LESS EFFICIENT AT HIGH BRIGHTNESSES

References
  1. Slingerland, Calum (15 May 2017). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Return with 'The Punishment of Luxury'". Exclaim!. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. Kaye, Ben (16 May 2017). "OMD announce new album, The Punishment of Luxury, share video for 'La Mitrailleuse'". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  3. Jones, Alan (8 September 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: The Script debut at No.1 on albums chart". Music Week. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  4. Shin, Dennis (28 August 2013). "The Future Will Be Silent: An Interview with OMD". PopMatters. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. "2015 News". OMD.uk.com. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  6. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Rockies". Your Older Brother. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  7. OMD (2017). "Robot Man". The Punishment of Luxury (DVD). White Noise.
  8. "OMD 'Isotype' - classic sounding new single of The Punishment of Luxury". Slicing Up Eyeballs. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  9. "Critic reviews for The Punishment of Luxury". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  10. Sendra, Tim. "The Punishment of Luxury - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  11. Zaleski, Annie (31 August 2017). "OMD examines the complications of progress on the sparkling The Punishment Of Luxury". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  12. Wallace, Wyndham (October 2017). "OMD – The Punishment of Luxury album review". Classic Pop. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  13. Hughes, Andy (7 September 2017). "Album review: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - The Punishment of Luxury". Gigwise. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  14. Gannon, Jennifer (31 August 2017). "OMD review: Synth-pop at its most charming and effortless". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  15. Hogwood, Ben (3 September 2017). "OMD – The Punishment of Luxury". musicOMH. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  16. Bergstrom, John (6 September 2017). "OMD: The Punishment of Luxury". PopMatters. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  17. Hutchinson, Charles (14 September 2017). "OMD, The Punishment of Luxury". The Press. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  18. "The Punishment of Luxury". Uncut. Bauer Media Group: 36. October 2017. It's refreshing to hear Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey challenging themselves as OMD enjoy their Indian Summer—"La Mitrailleuse" blends gunfire and military drums—even if the results mostly end up as blue-eyed Kraftwerkian pop.
  19. Stone, Aug (1 September 2017). "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: The Punishment of Luxury". Under the Radar. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  20. Reddin, Lorelei (7 September 2017). "7 Days". Hampshire Chronicle. Newsquest.
  21. The Punishment of Luxury (liner notes). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 100% Records. 2017. 100CD66.CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. "Austriancharts.at – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  23. "Ultratop.be – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  24. "Ultratop.be – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  25. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201739 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  26. "Dutchcharts.nl – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  27. "Lescharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  29. "Irish-charts.com – Discography OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  30. "Top 20 Independent – Week Ending 15 Sep 2017". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  31. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  32. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  33. "Swisscharts.com – OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) – The Punishment of Luxury". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  34. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  35. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  36. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  37. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
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