Album: Bad Lieutenant, Never Cry Another Tear (Triple Echo)

Ironically, while younger bands strive to revive the sound and mood of Joy Division, Bernard Sumner's subsequent career has sometimes seemed like a desperate flight from his earlier group.

So with New Order similarly consigned to the past, it's surprising to find that his new band Bad Lieutenant features both drummer Stephen Morris and auxiliary guitarist Phil Cunningham from the last New Order line-up, which lends a sheen of familiarity to much of Never Cry Another Tear. The important new addition is singer/guitarist Jake Evans, whose vocal contributions on three of these tracks lends the new line-up the flavour of Doves. His arpeggiated guitar parts, meanwhile, add distinct folk-rock touches to much of the album, akin to R.E.M. or The Byrds. But as before, it's Sumner's input which is decisive: whether essaying neat, understated couplets like: "I know it's hard for you to run away/Sometimes it's better just to turn the other way", or sketching out his usual hard-done-by sentiments in songs such as "Twist Of Fate" and "Running Out Of Luck", he never seems pushed beyond his comfort zone – and in the case of the single "Sink Or Swim", uses a vocal melody so familiar it's hard not to imagine he's recycling. Only "Dynamo" heads for new ground, and then it's terrain comprehensively mapped out by The Who in "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Download this Sink Or Swim, This Is Home, Runaway, Dynamo