Rocktrospectiva: The Vital And Influential "In The Dark" Turns 45

Released on 22 February 1980 "In The Dark" was the debut studio album by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). Recorded at the group's Liverpool studio, it showcased their minimal synth-pop style and peaked at number 27 on the UK Albums Chart. "Electricity" and "Red Frame/White Light" were released as singles; a re-recorded version of "Messages" provided OMD with their first hit in the UK, reaching number 13.

Much of the album's content centres around war themes, with OMD exploring "the lengths to which people would go in a situation beyond the norm". The band expressed dissatisfaction with their production efforts on the album, although frontman Andy McCluskey later came to appreciate its "naivety". 

Rather than hire studio time to record the album, OMD co-founders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys used their advance payment from Dindisc to build their own Liverpool recording studio, The Gramophone Suite. The duo predicted they would be dropped by the label due to disappointing sales, but would at least own a studio. McCluskey and Humphreys used cheaply-acquired instruments, as well as the low-end Korg M500 Micro-Preset (which had been paid for in many instalments).Their studio incurred leakage when the lead covering was stolen from its roof, and so McCluskey had to record his vocals under an umbrella.

Dindisc scheduled the album for release in February 1980, allowing three weeks for recording under the supervision of manager Paul Collister. The included tracks were composed during the previous four years: "Electricity" (McCluskey and Humphreys' first ever composition), "Julia's Song" and "The Misunderstanding" were holdovers from OMD precursor outfit the Id. A version of "Electricity" had been issued as OMD's debut single in 1979, and featured an early take of "Almost" as its B-side.

McCluskey and Humphreys had to write two final songs, "Pretending to See the Future" and "The Messerschmitt Twins", "off the top of their heads" in order to complete the tracklist. Much of the content centres around war themes; McCluskey noted that the band were exploring "the lengths to which people would go in a situation beyond the norm".

Still generally a duo performing alongside a TEAC 4-track tape recorder christened "Winston", OMD enlisted Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes. The latter had performed with McCluskey and Humphreys in the Id (both musicians would become full-time band members the following year). Cooper played saxophone on "Mystereality", while Holmes supplied percussion on "Julia's Song"; Dave Fairbairn played guitar on this track, as well as on "Messages". Kraftwerk, Neu! and Brian Eno served as key musical influences on the album, which showcased OMD's minimal synth-pop style.

The Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark sleeve was created by graphic designer Peter Saville and interior designer Ben Kelly, based on a door conceived by Kelly. It featured a die-cut grid through which the orange inner sleeve was visible. Saville and Kelly won a Designers and Art Directors Award for their work. McCluskey has praised the artwork, saying in 2019, "To this day, I think half the people bought [the album] for the Peter Saville sleeve."

Th reviews of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were favourable, depicting the fine and different their melodies can be, how detailed and distinctive their song structures. It's much more varied and surprising, often exhilarating and always captivating, than dissenters claim this stuff can be. Also praising the band to be the most inventive of all the new Mersey side bands, still today is considered and odd album from an odd duo with strange and intriguing electronic excursion, the album was hailed as a superior record within the contemporary synth-pop movement. 

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was a formative influence on electronic group Depeche Mode. Moby named the "phenomenal" album as an inspiration, while physicist/musician Brian Cox cited it as a major influence and a personal favourite. LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy "constantly" listened to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and follow-up Organisation, during the making of This Is Happening (2010). 

 

In The Dark Track List: 

 

1. Bunker Soldiers

2. Almost

3. Mystereality

4. Electricity

5. The Messerschmitt Twins

6. Messages

7. Julia's Song

8. Red Frame/White Light

9. Dancing (Instrumental)

10. Pretending To See The Future