Waiting for the Sirens' Call

Waiting for the Sirens' Call is the eighth studio album by English rock band New Order. The album was released on 28 March 2005 in the United Kingdom and 25 April 2005 in the United States, and was preceded by the single "Krafty" in February. Two additional singles from the album were released: "Jetstream", which features vocals by Ana Matronic from Scissor Sisters, and the title track of the album. The album was released at a time when the band were experiencing unprecedented recognition in the media.

Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Studio album by New Order
Released	28 March 2005 (2005-03-28)
Recorded	2003–2004
Studio	Real World (Box, England) St Catherine's Court (Bath, England)
Genre	Alternative rock[1][2] synth-pop[3]
Length	57:07
Label	London
Producer	New Order John Leckie Stephen Street Stuart Price
New Order chronology
Get Ready (2001) Waiting for the Sirens' Call (2005) Lost Sirens (2013)
Singles from Waiting for the Sirens' Call
"Krafty" Released: 7 March 2005 "Jetstream" Released: 16 May 2005 "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" Released: 19 September 2005 "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" Released: 2006 (promo only)

Production

Waiting for the Sirens' Call marks Phil Cunningham's recording and co-writing debut with New Order; although he had been playing live with the band since the Get Ready tour of 2001–2002. It is the first New Order album recorded without Gillian Gilbert who left the band in 2001 to look after her family. The album was recorded at Real World studios in 2003–2004, and production costs totalled £700,000. During the sessions the band also recorded seven songs intended for their next album, which was never completed as planned. These songs were shelved when Peter Hook quit the group in 2007. One song, "Hellbent", was eventually released in 2011 and all seven (plus a remix of "I Told You So") were released as the album Lost Sirens in 2013.

This album was the first and only New Order album to have a title track. This matches their current trend of now using song titles which are in the song lyrics, a practice New Order rarely did before their 2001 album Get Ready. The Japanese release includes several alternate versions of "Krafty" as bonus tracks, including one sung in Japanese. This was the first time that lead singer Bernard Sumner performed in a language other than English on record. The lyrics were translated by Masafumi Gotō. The US release of this album includes one extra track, a remix of "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion".

Promotion

Promotional posters for the album utilised newly developed Hypertag technology to enable fans to download free content to their mobile phones, including ringtones, wallpapers or track previews, depending on the user's phone capability. This was one of the first implementations of such technology by the music industry.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Blender	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
The Guardian	[8]
Mojo	[9]
NME	6/10[3]
Pitchfork	7.9/10[10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Uncut	[13]

This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.

The track "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion", released as a promo single, was nominated for Best Dance Recording award at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

"Hey Now What You Doing" has been used in an advert for the Indesit Moon.

"Krafty" is featured on the soundtrack to the SXSW Award-winning Best Narrative Feature 2009 feature film Skills like This directed by Monty Miranda.

Track listing

All tracks are written by New Order, except "Jetstream" written by New Order, S. Price and A. Lynch.

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Who's Joe?"	New Order, Jim Spencer	5:41
2.	"Hey Now What You Doing"	New Order, Stephen Street	5:16
3.	"Waiting for the Sirens' Call"	New Order, Jim Spencer	5:42
4.	"Krafty"	New Order, John Leckie	4:33
5.	"I Told You So"	New Order, Jim Spencer	6:00
6.	"Morning Night and Day"	New Order, Stephen Street	5:12
7.	"Dracula's Castle"	John Leckie, New Order	5:40
8.	"Jetstream"	Stuart Price, New Order	5:23
9.	"Guilt Is a Useless Emotion"	Stuart Price, New Order	5:39
10.	"Turn"	New Order, Stephen Street	4:35
11.	"Working Overtime"	New Order, Stephen Street	3:26

US edition bonus track

12. "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" (Mac Quayle Vocal Mix) – 6:29

Japanese edition bonus tracks

12. "Krafty (Japanese Version)" – 4:33
13. "Krafty (The Glimmers Twelve Inch Extended)" –6:55
14. "Krafty (Phones Reality Remix)" – 7:07

Personnel

New Order

Musician credits for New Order are not listed in the liner notes of the album's personnel. Below are the instruments that the group typically plays.

• Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, synthesisers and programming
• Peter Hook – 4 and 6-stringed bass
• Stephen Morris – drums, synthesisers and programming
• Phil Cunningham – synthesisers and programming, guitars

Production

The original liner notes list the album's personnel as follows:

New Order – producer, writer Jim Spencer – producer (1, 3, 5) Stephen Street – producer (2, 6, 10, 11), mixing (2, 6, 10, 11) Cenzo Townshend – mixing (2, 6, 10, 11), engineer (2, 6, 10, 11) Rich Costey – mixing (4) Dawn Zee – additional vocals (5, 9) John Leckie – producer (7), mixing (7) Stuart Price – producer (8, 9), writer (8)

Ana Matronic – featuring (vocals) (8), writer (8) Beatrice Hatherley – additional vocals (9) Mac Quayle – keyboards, additional programming Bruno Ellingham – additional engineering Tom Stanley, Paul Grady, Claire Lewis, Marco Migliari, Rob Haggett, Phil Rose and Owen Skinner – assistant engineer Peter Saville – art direction, photography Anna Blessman – photography Howard Wakefield and Peter Saville Associates – design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 15 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 38 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 32 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 21 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] 29 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[19] 24 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 52 European Albums (Billboard)[21] 6 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 34 French Albums (SNEP)[23] 22 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 14 Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] 19 Italian Albums (FIMI)[26] 37 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] 21 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 19 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[29] 11 Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 5 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[31] 45 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[32] 7 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 44 UK Albums (OCC)[34] 5 US Billboard 200[35] 46 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[36] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[37] 13

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[38]	Silver	60,000^^
United States	—	84,000[39]
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Kissel, Chris (22 June 2015). "New Order Announce Their First New Album in a Decade". Diffuser.fm. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
2. Grow, Kory (23 September 2015). "Inside New Order's Triumphant Return to Dance-Rock". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
3. Beaumont, Mark (7 April 2005). "New Order : Waiting for the Sirens' Call". NME. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
4. "Reviews for Waiting For The Sirens' Call by New Order". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
5. Bush, John. "Waiting for the Sirens' Call – New Order". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
6. Lysnkey, Dorian (May 2005). "New Order: Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Blender. No. 36. p. 122. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
7. Goldblatt, Henry (25 April 2005). "Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
8. Petridis, Alexis (18 March 2005). "Factory record". The Guardian.
9. "New Order: Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Mojo. No. 138. May 2005. p. 96.
10. Raposa, David (29 March 2005). "New Order: Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
11. "New Order: Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Q. No. 225. April 2005. p. 124.
12. Sheffield, Rob (5 May 2005). "New Order: Waiting For The Sirens' Call". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
13. Troussé, Stephen (April 2005). "New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Uncut. No. 95. p. 104. Archived from the original on 31 March 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
14. "Australiancharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
15. "Austriancharts.at – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
16. "Ultratop.be – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
17. "Ultratop.be – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
18. "Top Of The Charts: Il Divo Don't Answer To The Boss". Chart Attack. 5 May 2005. Archived from the original on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
19. "Danishcharts.dk – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
21. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 117 no. 16. 16 April 2005. p. 53. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 26 May 2019 – via Google Books.
22. "New Order: Waiting for the Siren's Call" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
23. "Lescharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
24. "Offiziellecharts.de – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
25. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 13, 2005". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
26. "Italiancharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
27. "ニュー・オーダー" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
28. "Charts.nz – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
29. "Norwegiancharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
30. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
31. "Spanishcharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
32. "Swedishcharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
33. "Swisscharts.com – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
34. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
35. "New Order Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
36. "New Order Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
37. "2005 Year End Charts – Top Electronic Albums". Billboard.biz. 26 November 2005. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
38. "British album certifications – New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call". British Phonographic Industry. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2019. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Waiting for the Sirens' Call in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
39. Caulfield, Keith (5 April 2006). "Ask Billboard: New Depeche Order Mode". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2019.