The 18th July, 1980 saw the release of Joy Division’s second LP ‘Closer’. This is arguably one of if not the most influential albums of the eighties. Recorded earlier in the year over the last two weeks of March and produced by Martin Hannet it displays the Affection, Despair, Depression and Fear being felt by Ian Curtis. It’s a true masterpiece of the time and where the debut album ‘Unknown Pleasures’ is the more guitar based Joy Division, “Closer” gave a more textural keyboard sound somewhat ushering in what the soon to be New Order would become.
The second album from influential Manchester post-punk band Joy Division is arguably superior to their landmark debut, featuring more ambitious arrangements and production (once again by Martin Hannett). “Closer” would also be the foursome’s final album, released just a couple of months after lead singer Ian Curtis‘ suicide. That context, the funereal look of its cover and the despairing outlook of tracks like “Atrocity Exhibition,” “Isolation” and “Heart and Soul” combined to make the set a goth touchstone.
Joy Division’s second and last album, ‘Closer’, was released thirteen months after ‘Unknown Pleasures’. It’s tempting to see it as literally the “closer” to their career, but to me ‘Closer’ sounds more like an interim record. This LP has the hiemal sonic palette of ‘Unknown Pleasures’ while also introducing synthesisers, off-centre rhythms (‘Heart and Soul’), disco (‘Decades’) and a piano (‘The Eternal’). It’s fascinating to think what Joy Division would have done on the third album – perhaps they’d have expanded further into experimental and industrial music, focussing on texture rather than arrangement.
There are some crackers on this record. ‘Isolation’ stands as one of the best things either band has ever done. These lads can really write a pop song when they put their mind to it – see also ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Plastic’. They just had the knack for an ear-worm chorus and masterful melody.
On ‘Closer’, Martin Hannet’s production is top class as usual. He was most definitely to Joy Division what George Martin was to The Beatles. Heard in their original form, without Hannet’s input, Joy Division songs might have seemed rough-hewn and incomplete. You get the sense that without Hannet’s hand on the tiller (or if he’d listened too intently to Sumner and Hook’s advice) these songs would be pretty nondescript. Hannet’s production coats the songs in ice, carving detailing into them while allowing each instrument space to breathe.
It’s tempting to think of these classic albums as existing in total seclusion. Sometimes music can sound so fresh and original that the influences are left by the wayside, and ‘Closer’ is the same. However, let’s not forget about the effect that NEU! had on Joy Division’s repetitive rhythms, how the mostly chorus-led songs drew from The Velvet Underground, or Jim Morrison’s influence on Curtis’ vocal style.
‘Closer’ is famously a somewhat-posthumous album given that Curtis passed away before its release on the eve of a U.S. tour. It made for a tragic end to the short and storied career of what many see as one of the most influential Western bands of all time.
Available again on vinyl, “Closer” was named Album of the Year by Britain’s NME and, 40 years after its release, has lost none of its haunting power.
The Fat Angel Sings 