Transmissions: The Definitive Story of Joy Division & New Order

1989 and The Hacienda is packed to the rafters, whilst their new album is going gangbusters… So why is the band’s mood so bleak? As the UK finally embraces the promise of dance music, New Order teeters on the brink of collapse.

New Order decide to put some distance between themselves and the devil of temptation. They’ll go somewhere serene and quiet… Ibiza. Join the band on their chaotic lost summer, as Acid House arrives and turns their entire world upside down.

Tony Wilson wants to listen to ‘Blue Monday’ on his car CD player, and what Tony Wilson wants…  Hear how Substance launched New Order into a new stratosphere of American popularity, and the story of one of the record’s highpoints: ‘True Faith’.

An album defined by the division between punk rock tradition and the new frontier of electronic production, Brotherhood has blossomed since its tumultuous recording in the hearts of New Order fans, such as Hot Chip, and Christine & The Queens.

New Order finds an enthusiastic young audience in the US. Unlike British crowds, they never ask them to play ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, and they quite like dancing. It’s seductive, but life on the road begins to take its toll on the band.

New Order reflect on Low-Life, a hedonistic odyssey fuelled by unprecedented excess through London’s clubs, their first concessions to the new American label, and the lasting appeal of an album that married punk rock tradition with sci-fi modernity.