15 May 2017
Synth-pop group OMD and comedian Rob Brydon have both announced upcoming shows at York Barbican.
‘The Punishment of Luxury’ is the new album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), the pioneering synth-pop group – founded almost 40 years ago by two teenage Kraftwerk fans from the Wirral – whose early albums ‘Architecture and Morality’ (1981) and ‘Dazzle Ships’ (1983) would shape the dominant sound of that decade. Alongside the Human League and Gary Numan, OMD mapped out the musical landscape of the time and helped to mint this new genre with hits such as ‘Enola Gay’, ‘Electricity’ and ‘Souvenir’.
Now they return with their thirteenth album ‘The Punishment of Luxury’, a daring collection of stylish synth-pop and masterful song craft that sees OMD edge out of their comfort zone without compromising their integrity.
“It’s almost like we’ve gone back to being teenagers after all these years,” says Andy. “We just do whatever we want and there’s no record company to tell us what we can or can’t do.” The album was recorded in their respective studios in Merseyside (Andy) and London (Paul) with the final mixes handled by both at Paul’s. In the past, their songs were fuelled by naïvety and excitement, this time the mood is reflective and sanguine, yet the youthful energy that courses through OMD remains the same.
Rob Brydon is perhaps best known for the television shows Gavin and Stacey, Would I Lie To You? and The Trip as well as Marion and Geoff, Human Remains, Little Britain, The Rob Brydon Show, Best of Men, Gangster Granny and Q.I.
His film work includes The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Cinderella and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Earlier this year in London’s West End he starred opposite Sir Kenneth Branagh in The Painkiller. His other theatre credits include Future Conditional at The Old Vic and A Chorus of Disapproval at The Harold Pinter Theatre.
These dates are Rob Brydon’s first stand up shows since his sell-out national tour and West End run of 2009.