I didn’t even know New Order had an album out last year, which probably says about as much about my own general New Order awareness before beginning this project as it does about New Order’s status in the 2010s. But still, even now that I’m a bit more New Order familiar, the fact that their most recent album is not just generally recent but just barely less than a year old is startling to me. At least as startling is that Music Complete is probably their best album since Technique, and, even allowing for my inevitable waffling that maybe Lost Sirens or Get Ready is actually superior, definitely their best dance album since Technique.

It only makes sense that in an age of dance pop ascendancy (something New Order arguably created [and at least innovated] to begin with) and ’80s nostalgia that a New Order release is going to sound would mine the band’s classic sound more purely than any album since the classic period itself, with all the beats and synth textures that entails. It’s not pure nostalgia, though–after Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, the band went on hiatus, and what we’re hearing with Music Complete is the output of a new lineup from the band, a shake-up that’s seemed to invigorate the group to a vital extent. For all its ’80s vibes, Music Complete feels fresh; to the album’s immense credit, the songs are crisply and modernly produced, a lush sound that hits its peak with “Singularity,” the album’s third single, a marvel of dance melodrama, and one of New Order’s best songs since… well, since Technique, I guess. I keep hitting that barrier with my career-spanning comparisons here, but admittedly, it’s a high wall to clear.

As with the rest of their post-’90s output (except for Lost Sirens, you sprightly gem you), Music Complete is a bit long at its 64-minute runtime, and as much as it evokes classic New Order, there’s still no touching their actual classic period. But more so than I’ve felt in a while, I’m actually looking forward to whatever New Order will do next with the hope that these guys will continue to put out work that’s both interesting and engaging. Music Complete isn’t a masterpiece, but it (alongside Lost Sirens) has set the band on a firmly upward trajectory.