# Music Complete
**Music Complete** is a studio album by the English band [New Order](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-order-band), released on September 25, 2015 through the Mute label. It was the band's first album of new material since *Waiting for the Sirens' Call* (2005), its first without founding bassist [Peter Hook](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-hook), and its first with original keyboardist [Gillian Gilbert](https://www.edgepedia.org/gillian-gilbert) since 2001. Reviewers counted it as the band's tenth studio album, although AllMusic's review numbers it as the ninth and its first in a decade.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0002855811) • [3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21036-music-complete/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | September 25, 2015, Mute; 11 songs, 1 hour 4 minutes[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) |
| Position in catalog | Pitchfork and Metacritic call it the tenth studio album; AllMusic calls it the ninth and the band's first in a decade[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21036-music-complete/) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0002855811) |
| Lineup change | First album without Peter Hook; Gillian Gilbert returned for her first recordings with the band since 2001[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0002855811) |
| Guests | Brandon Flowers, Elly Jackson of La Roux, and Iggy Pop[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) |
| Production link | Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers co-wrote and co-produced "Singularity" and "Unlearn This Hatred"[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 76 from 22 reviews: 18 positive, 4 mixed, 0 negative; user score 8.4[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) |
| Aftermath | No studio album has followed; the band returned in 2020 with the standalone single "Be a Rebel"[5](https://www.nme.com/news/music/new-order-respond-to-claims-of-a-new-album-and-world-tour-in-2025-3815531) |
## Background and lineup
**A changed lineup.** New Order reformed in 2011 without Peter Hook, who had left the band acrimoniously in 2007, and *Music Complete* arrived four years after that reunion.[6](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/new-order-later-years/) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/new-order-music-complete-interview) The album's lineup paired [Bernard Sumner](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernard-sumner), Stephen Morris, and the returning Gillian Gilbert with guitarist Phil Cunningham and bassist Tom Chapman, two younger musicians who had grown up listening to New Order and now formed a second writing duo within the band.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) Gilbert had spent the 2000s raising her children, of whom Morris, her husband, remained the band's drummer; Exclaim! notes she had taken a break to care for her and Morris's youngest daughter.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) • [8](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/new_order-complete_return) The Skinny described Hook's departure in 2007 as having occurred under acrimonious circumstances.[9](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/new-order-on-music-complete)
**A new label and an old studio.** The band had also signed to Mute, which Apple Music's editorial notes call the only UK post-punk label as historically consequential as the band's former home, [Factory Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/factory-records), after years on a major label.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) As with every New Order album since *Get Ready* (2001), recording took place at the studio at Morris and Gilbert's house near [Macclesfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/macclesfield).[7](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/new-order-music-complete-interview)
## Sound and songs
The album emphasizes the electronic side of the band's dance-rock duality, a return to the synthesizer-oriented style that inaugurated New Order in the 1980s after the guitar-forward *Get Ready* and *Waiting for the Sirens' Call*.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) • [8](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/new_order-complete_return) Reviewers frequently reached for the 1989 album *Technique* as a point of comparison; Classic Pop later wrote that few would argue the album's vital pulse ranks alongside *Technique* as the band's best all-out dance music album.[6](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/new-order-later-years/)
The 11 tracks draw on the band's familiar modes. The first single, "Restless", is a wistful song Pitchfork likened to "Regret"; "Tutti Frutti" is pounding eurodisco; and the record closes with the ballad "Superheated", featuring Brandon Flowers of The Killers.[3](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21036-music-complete/) Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers co-wrote and co-produced "Singularity" and "Unlearn This Hatred", tracks that combine the band's 1980s electro-dance sound with 1990s electronica.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343) The one clear exception to the upbeat dance tone is "Stray Dog", on which [Iggy Pop](https://www.edgepedia.org/iggy-pop) recites a poem over a beat.[10](https://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/21762/1/LUA-PUB-002-GRY2-2-2_001.pdf) Elly Jackson of La Roux also appears as a guest, alongside Flowers and Pop.[11](https://stereogum.com/1826091/qa-bernard-sumner-on-new-orders-music-complete-and-the-ghosts-of-manchester/interviews) In a Stereogum interview, Bernard Sumner described the record as a dance record that splits the difference between guitars and synthesizers, built with the notion of making a classic New Order record along the lines of *Technique*.[11](https://stereogum.com/1826091/qa-bernard-sumner-on-new-orders-music-complete-and-the-ghosts-of-manchester/interviews)
## Reception
*Music Complete* received generally favorable reviews. Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 76 based on 22 critic reviews, with 18 positive, 4 mixed, and none negative; the user score was 8.4.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) Consequence scored it 91 and noted a "transparent curatorial awareness" in the album's use of guests; The Guardian called it the freshest thing the band had done in ages; the Boston Globe wrote that it overflows with ideas and intricate synth patterns while maintaining the emotional resonance of the band's best work.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) Pitchfork scored it 72, writing that the album does nothing to diminish New Order's legacy but does not necessarily expand on it, while still sounding like classic New Order.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order) The A.V. Club called it safe to describe as a comeback.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order)
Not all reviews were positive. AllMusic scored it 60, calling it a watered-down and uninspired album, while another reviewer in the same Metacritic listing called it easily New Order's best album since *Technique*.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order/critic-reviews?sort-by=publication) DIY Magazine scored it 40, writing that the album served to dilute the band's output.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order/critic-reviews?sort-by=publication) The Skinny's early take on "Restless" found it a relatively conventional single that sounded like New Order by numbers, while Norman Records recalled that the album was well received by critics and fans.[9](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/new-order-on-music-complete) • [13](https://www.normanrecords.com/artist/7628-new-order/about) A Belgian review in Peek-a-Boo Magazine judged it New Order's most complete long-player since *Low-Life* and the equal of *Technique*.[14](https://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/files/201510-pab-magazine-n-19.pdf)
## Later standing
The album's songs entered regular live rotation: on the band's December 2016 visit to Parque de la Exposición in Lima, Peru, material from *Music Complete* (2015) was played alongside classics such as "Blue Monday", "Temptation", and "Bizarre Love Triangle".[15](https://rockperuanoefemerides.blogspot.com/2023/12/) A *Music Complete: Remix EP* followed in 2017, listed among the band's singles and EPs on Apple Music.[16](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/new-order/176722)
No studio album has followed it. NME reported that New Order had not shared an album since *Music Complete*, returning in 2020 with their first new material in five years, the single "Be a Rebel".[5](https://www.nme.com/news/music/new-order-respond-to-claims-of-a-new-album-and-world-tour-in-2025-3815531) Record Club lists it as the band's tenth and final studio album, a description that reflects the band's subsequent release history rather than any announced intention at the time.[17](https://record.club/releases/albums/new-order-music-complete)
## References
1. [Music Complete by New Order Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order)
2. [New Order: Music Complete Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/MW0002855811)
3. [New Order: Music Complete Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21036-music-complete/)
4. [Music Complete, Album by New Order, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/music-complete/1004091343)
5. [New Order respond to claims of a new album and world tour in 2025, NME](https://www.nme.com/news/music/new-order-respond-to-claims-of-a-new-album-and-world-tour-in-2025-3815531)
6. [New Order – the later years, Classic Pop Magazine](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/new-order-later-years/)
7. [New Order: 'There's no point in just staying together for the kids', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/27/new-order-music-complete-interview)
8. [New Order, Exclaim!](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/new_order-complete_return)
9. [New Order's Stephen Morris on Music Complete, The Skinny](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/new-order-on-music-complete)
10. [Back with their tenth studio album, University of Leeds student publication](https://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/21762/1/LUA-PUB-002-GRY2-2-2_001.pdf)
11. [Q&A: Bernard Sumner On New Order's Music Complete, Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/1826091/qa-bernard-sumner-on-new-orders-music-complete-and-the-ghosts-of-manchester/interviews)
12. [Critic Reviews for Music Complete, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/music-complete/new-order/critic-reviews?sort-by=publication)
13. [New Order, Norman Records](https://www.normanrecords.com/artist/7628-new-order/about)
14. [New Order – Music Complete (CD) (Mute), Peek-a-Boo Magazine](https://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/files/201510-pab-magazine-n-19.pdf)
15. [Efemérides del Rock Peruano: diciembre 2023](https://rockperuanoefemerides.blogspot.com/2023/12/)
16. [New Order, Apple Music artist page](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/new-order/176722)
17. [Music Complete (2015) by New Order, Record Club](https://record.club/releases/albums/new-order-music-complete)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › New wave and post-punk albums › Post-punk albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license