The latest single from Mancunian veterans New Order, taken from the soundtrack of the upcoming film 24 Hour Party People, about Factory Records, the Hacienda and the scene that grew around them.
And one listen to it is enough to confirm that New Order are back. This song just glistens with the cold feeling that made songs like Blue Monday and Touched By The Hand Of God classics, opening with a Blue Mondayesque synth-choir pad and a hard-edged synth bass. As it goes on, we hear Peter Hook's trademarked bassmanship, some jagged guitars (though not too much, thankfully), and of course Bernard Sumner's vocals. The lyrics are reasonably cryptic (none of the post-Prozac pap that was all too evident in Electronic and Get Ready), and Barney's floating, detached delivery does them justice. The single also contains a fairly good Felix Da Housecat remix, which sounds better than most by-the-book club mixes (though one can't say that for the Scumfrog remix also included). The B-side, "Player In The League", starts off sounding like a Depeche Mode song with Oasis choruses, and football metaphors thrown in.

With "Here To Stay", New Order have rediscovered the elements that made their epic singles of the 1980s. However, looking at the production credits shows that the Chemical Brothers (who were responsible for the somewhat New Orderesque single "Star Guitar") helped them with it. Which makes one wonder: did New Order rediscover their classic sound, or is it a case of the new New Order working with a Chemical Brothers imitation of the classic New Order sound of the 1980s?