A friend of mine is a reviewer who has heard the album, and he is a big New Order fan.
From the sense I get from him that it's very good, better than any of the post-millennium New Order albums thus far, but that maybe he is still not totally convinced of it as an essential/awesome album.
Retro.
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)
Must say I'm surprised and impressed the album hasn't leaked as of 19:25 EST 21 Sept. - two days before the album is released in Japan. Also quite surprised there aren't any snippets on iTunes yet.
I just gave it a listen and was pleasantly surprised at how good it is on a whole. This is going to be on repeat for a while. I love the more funk sound of the dance tracks. Its a nice direction for them. So nice to have them return to an electronic sound. I just hope they can get people to help them translate it to live shows better. Last concert I went to Santa Barbara bowl in 2013 was tailored to the rock side of things. The more electronic tracks didn't sound as good but it was still awesome. Best sounding show I have ever attended was PSB in Irvine CA. in 2000. I remember being shocked at how good everything sounded.
BTW the extended version of restless on the jp release should have been the album version its amazing.
I wasn't that excited for this until I heard plastic.
Have to say that Tutti Frutti is a big fav of mine, followed by People On The High Line and Unlearn This Hatred. Can't wait to hear the remixes of these songs!
My favourites so far are "Singularity", "Unlearn This Hatred", "Superheated" and "Academic", a wonderful album, the best of 2015 on my list, followed by the great "Greyscale" by Camouflage.