“Technique” by New Order

It’s the 35th anniversary of New Order’s most head-spinning transformation of the 80s.

On Technique, New Order strikes a delicate sonic balance between different eras: the dance-rock vestiges of the Joy Division era and the club anthems like “Blue Monday” and “Bizarre Love Triangle” that made them a global sensation. “We were in this position of being known for this dance-electronic sound, and it would have been daft to have just stopped doing it,” Bernard Sumner recalled in the album’s liner notes. “[The] way I saw it was we were still writing band music as well, so we’d reached a compromise.”

In a discography full of striking production work and arresting juxtapositions, this record may be their most intriguing to date. Recorded partly in Ibiza just as the house music craze was taking off, most of these tracks transport you to the center of a crowded, sweaty nightclub. But there’s innate tension in the disconnect between the frequently euphoric instrumentals and the equally pained lyrics. This dynamic is best exemplified in “Love Less,” with a pre-chorus that spells the detachment out plainly: “I spent a lifetime working on you/And you won’t even talk to me.” Even the more overly rock-oriented numbers, such as “Dream Attack,” have a Cure-esque penchant for dramatization.

What holds up best after more than three decades are the acid-house tunes. Like their biggest hits, most sound so modern they could be released tomorrow and still enjoy monstrous success. “Fine Time” is clearly the group’s game effort to top “Blue Monday,” and they come remarkably close to doing so. “Round & Round,” with its sharp snare hits and wobbling synths, is another glorious slice of house that deserves to be mentioned as one of the best dance tracks of its era. The deeper cuts are more than up to the task too, be it the killer bassline in “Mr. Disco” or the addicting keys that drive the melody on “Vanishing Point.”

Taken in concert with New Order’s string of 80s singles and LPs, it’s an exceptional coda to one of the finest stretches of any group that decade.