“True Faith” by New Order, Wednesday, August 16, 2023 (repost)

Yesterday, I tested positive for Covid-19. I'd managed to avoid getting sick for three years, but something about the humidity of August and the close proximity to people made me susceptible. I'll try to get back to writing soon, but I don't have much energy. So I thought I'd share a repost today, a dusty memory about New Order, more specifically a keyboard from the '90s that listening to New Order today makes me think about. Buried under twenty years of dust in my parents garage lies an old Yamaha keyboard. It was my dad's Christmas present to my mom in the mid-90s. This model came with 100 recorded instruments, 100 styles of drum beats, everything from foxtrot to metal, and 25 or so recorded songs. It was a pretty typical family keyboard, but it kept me entertained for years. Although I started playing guitar at the age of 12, I had spent a long time messing around on that keyboard trying to make music. I loved playing the keyboard but hated how fake the instruments sounded. Strings, brass, woodwinds--all sounded like the vegetarian version served at camp meeting tasted. Still, that keyboard played such a crucial role for music in my life.

WHEN I WAS A VERY SMALL BOY. I got my first taste of synthesizers from my keyboard. I learned about the Orchestra Hit. It was the sound used in the hits by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and *NSync. Other synths were used in hits like Eiffel 65's "Blue" or Darude's "Sandstorm." And of course, all the computer games I was playing had similar synth music. But as the 2000s took full swing, I started to feel frustrated with the family keyboard. My friend's family had a newer model, and their instruments sounded 2% more real. This didn't stop me from playing it or using it to create weird songs with my sister on a tape player. I fully loved keyboard synthesizers without appreciating their origin story. My mom told me one day that I was going to start guitar lessons. I just said okay, but part of me was screaming out that I wanted to learn piano first. Why? Michael W. Smith was so cool back in the '90s. I wanted to learn how to record trippy music like on Delirious's Mezzamorphis album. And there were Skillet's Invincible and Alien Youth albums. And Linkin Park was getting popular. And Earthsuit's Kaleidoscope Superior had me wondering how could Paul Meany rap so fast when playing the keyboard. I took the guitar and loved it, but rock without keys is kinda boring.

MY MORNING SUN IS THE DRUG THAT LEADS ME NEAR TO THE CHILDHOOD I LOST. I talked about my history with New Order in January two years ago and about my initial disdain for the '80s sound in February of last year. Anberlin was certainly my gateway drug to New Order's discography, as they released a cover of this song as the third single from their New Surrender album cycle, rereleasing their album with a bunch of B-Sides. A college professor I worked for loved this song, so I started getting into New Order. I don't remember when I first heard this song, but I steered away from it for years because of the old synthesizer sounds. I thought it sounded like something I could have recorded on my mom's keyboard. But years down the road, I see that's the charm of these old synth classics. The song opens with larger-than-life electronic drums. The keyboard keeps a dark atmosphere throughout most of the song until the end, shifting into a major key. New Order is the real deal. Pop and rock musicians look to their synth-pop songs for inspiration.

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