The split between former bassist Peter Hook and his old bandmates in New Order has been one of music’s most bitter feuds since 2007, and while few could have predicted the war of words that ensued, January saw the release of Lost Sirens, the band’s ninth studio album that in fact featured the estranged bassist, but only by proxy.
As previously reported, Lost Sirens is an eight track release of material left over from the sessions’ for New Order’s 2005 album Waiting For The Sirens Call, featuring Hook, current frontman Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, and Phil Cunningham. Which means that at some point along the line, Hook had to give his blessing – consensual or otherwise – to the new release.
In a recent interview with the band, The Telegraph manage to eke some information regarding Lost Sirens getting the all-clear despite the ongoing rivalry. “He’s given it his thumbs up,” says Sumner. “I don’t think he’s got much choice. But we’ve just got to…” he begins, then sighs. “It’s a bit like having blocked pipework in the house for five years. We need to get the pipes cleared and the plumbing working. We need to draw a line under so we can all move on.”
When asked if getting Hook’s approval for Lost Sirens had been straightforward, drummer/keyboardist Stephen Morris replies, “It’s hard to tell what’s straightforward and what isn’t! Yeah, I think it was really. It’s daft to leave it just lying about — and it’s been lying about for God knows how long, so it’s really just common sense getting it out. And eventually everyone agreed!”
But as for any hopes of the new release rebuilding any burnt bridges, the current New Order are clear that there’s no chance.“It’s a bit like having blocked pipework in the house for five years. We need to get the pipes cleared and the plumbing working.” – Bernard Sumner, New Order
In fact, Sumner and Morris even take the time to mention, and give their less-than-favourable take on, Peter Hook’s book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, his recently released memoirs of the group’s legendary founding band, and its troubled singer, Ian Curtis.
“There’s a tendency when you write a book to portray yourself as the hero,” says bandmate Gillian Gilbert, “and I think that’s very much the case in Hooky’s book… I thought he would actually write about things happening to him. But to me it just slags off everybody around him. It paints a horrible picture.”
Sumner says he hasn’t read the tome and that he ‘doesn’t need to,’ telling the paper, “I can imagine… it’s patently obvious that [Hook is] so bitter and twisted.”
“Especially with Ian,” remarks Gilbert of their former fallen frontman, “I thought you didn’t speak ill of the dead.” While Stephen Morris simply dimisses the book as a collection of “every anecdote [Hook has] ever told about Joy Division over the years.”
As for any notions that Hook could rejoin New Order, Morris says “it’s very hard to say at the minute… but I wouldn’t have thought so.” While Sumner is more definitive: “I don’t need to read his book, and I don’t need to answer that question. I think he answered it himself.”
New Order are also gearing up for a tour in 2013 and are starting work on a new studio album, their first as a trio, later in the year.
