[tweetmeme]In a move that once might have seemed unthinkable, New Order — a flagship act of the iconic Factory Records imprint — has signed to the equally legendary Mute label, long home to contemporaries Depeche Mode and Erasure, as the group continues to work on its first album without founding bassist Peter Hook.
In a statement released Tuesday, Mute founder Daniel Miller says:
“This is an exciting new chapter for both Mute and New Order and I feel privileged to be working with artists with such a long, creative and successful history. When the possibility of us working together first came up, I was invited to hear some of the new material and immediately had no doubts whatsoever that Mute would be the right home for New Order. We’ve already had a number of creative conversations, and I am looking towards an exciting future.”
New Order released the following statement:
“New Order are delighted to be signing to Mute. We couldn’t imagine a better place to be than working with Daniel Miller and his team. Mute has a superb roster of artists and a history that complements our own. In many ways joining the label feels like we are coming home, returning to our independent roots.”
According to Mute, New Order “will soon return to the studio to continue working on new material.” The band so far this year has debuted a pair of new songs in concert (“Singularity” and “Plastic”).
Mute was founded by Miller in 1978 and, in addition to Depeche Mode and Erasure, has been home to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Cabaret Voltaire, Yazoo, Fad Gadget and more. Depeche Mode, however, left the label in 2012 and signed to Columbia Records for the release of last year’s Delta Machine.
