New Order as dance machine started to really come into its own in the era of Low-Life; while the greatest expression of that was on the contemporaneous 12" singles in particular, Low-Life found the group now blending their rock past with a technological present with remarkable facility. That was easily demonstrated on “The Perfect Kiss,” one of their most remarkable songs, but Low-Life covered a notable range in general, from the almost folky vibes of the opening “Love Vigilantes” to the stately instrumental “Elegia,” a salute some years on to Ian Curtis.

– Ned Raggett

Written while the band were still reeling from the suicide of Ian Curtis only a few months before, New Order’s 1981 debut Movement found the newly re-Christened group, in Bernard Sumner’s words, “stumbling around in the dark” looking for a new identity. Coming off the back of the artistic and commercial triumph of 1983’s Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order’s third album bristles with the confidence of a band who knew *exactly* who they were and where they were heading. On Low-Life, New Order’s synthesis of the electronic and organic had fully come together. Their mastering of sequencing and synthesisers was now complete and was seamlessly incorporated into group performances had all the snarl and bite of Joy Division, but were looking clearly ahead to a more dance-oriented future they themselves would help to forge. “Love Vigilantes” is a perfect an encapsulation of New Order’s mix of the ecstatic and melancholic, while the instrumental “Elegia” is a cinematic upscaling of their previous incarnations’ gothic brooding. In a bid to crack America they even broke tradition and included their recent single, the club-rushing “Perfect Kiss.” As drummer Stephen Morris would later note, on Power Corruption And Lies New Order were figuring out how to do something. On Low-Life, they’d figured out what that was.

– Chris Catchpole