OMD Emerge From The Dark

Band reunion mania is getting out of control. In the past few weeks we've reported on The Jesus And Mary Chain, Rage Against The Machine, Crowded House and The Police getting back together, and now we can add another name to the list: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark.

The Liverpudlian synth group's core members, Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey, formed the group in 1978. They released their first single, "Electricity," for Factory Records shortly thereafter. Their self-titled album and its Organisation follow-up, which featured the haunting top 10 U.K. single "Enola Gay," both came out in 1980. The group had a string of British hit singles and albums through the '80s and scored their biggest North American success when "If You Leave" was featured on the 1986 Pretty In Pink soundtrack.

There were a number of lineup changes and Humphreys departed prior to 1991's largely ignored Sugar Tax. Two more studio albums and some compilations followed, but nothing new had been heard from OMD in more than 10 years — until now.

The group — now comprised of Humphreys, McCluskey and former members Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper — performed on television shows in France and Germany last month as a warm-up for a handful of concerts in the U.K. and Germany in May, where they'll perform 1981's Architecture And Morality album.

Virgin will release a remastered version of that LP packaged with a DVD of a 1981 performance from London, England's Drury Lane Theatre in the U.K. on April 30. Other CD/DVD double-packs are apparently in the works for sometime down the line.

OMD will play a few European music festivals this summer and are collaborating with designer Peter Saville on an installation work called The Energy Suite. It will combine visuals from five British power stations and new music from OMD, and is scheduled to premiere in March 2008 as part of Liverpool's European capital of culture celebrations.

OMD are also working with The London Philharmonic Orchestra for a fall 2008 tour that will include both Europe and North America. The performances will include material from The Energy Suite and songs from OMD's back catalogue.