Synth pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) will delight South African fans with a Greatest Hits Tour in April next year!

The band takes to the globe in 2024, playing 22 dates across the UK & Ireland, including their biggest ever London headline show at London’s O2 Arena on March 24th.

In April, the band will stop over in Cape Town and Joburg!

The tour follows the recent announcement of their forthcoming new studio album, ‘Bauhaus Staircase’.

OMD frontman Andy McCluskey, spoke exclusively to The Ryan O’Connor Breakfast Show on Smile FM first in the country on Tuesday morning, about the upcoming tour.

OMD have sold an astonishing 25 million singles and 15 million albums, which has established them as electronic synthesiser pioneers and one of Britain’s best-loved pop groups.

Their 13 albums include reissued ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’ (1980), ‘Organisation’ (1980), ‘Architecture & Morality’ (1981) and ‘Dazzle Ships’ (1983).

The new album ‘Bauhaus Staircase’ sees the band’s most explicitly political record and the crowning achievement of their desire to be both Stockhausen and Abba – ”born from the impetus to kickstart new explorations during lockdown.”

A broad, electronic, sonic masterpiece that lyrically tackles the topics of the future, it was predominantly written, recorded, and mixed by both McCluskey & OMD co-founder Paul Humphreys.

The universal love shown for 2017’s ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ meant there were doubts about making a new album at all.

“The fans and the critics said: ‘You can put The Punishment Of Luxury up against their best work’ and rated it next to Architecture And Morality or Dazzle Ships,” notes Humphreys.

“The reception was so good, we thought: ‘Maybe we should stop now, at the top,’ so the idea of making a new record had some trepidation for us.”

McCluskey agrees, explaining:

“We’ve worked hard to rebuild ourselves since reforming, and we’re in a wonderful position where we’re cooler than we’ve been for a long time. We wouldn’t forgive ourselves if we released an album where fans said: ‘Oh no, this is the one where they’re a pastiche of themselves.’ If Bauhaus Staircase is to be our last album, we’re going out with a strong statement.”

The new album’s beautiful film noir ballad Veruschka exemplifies the determination OMD had to make Bauhaus Staircase an album to rank among their finest.

McCluskey reasons: “My attitude is like I say in that song: if you’re too afraid to jump off the cliff, you’ll never learn to fly. We couldn’t keep saying: ‘It’s not going to work.’ You have to keep trying, to see where you end up.”

Listen to the full conversation Ryan had with Andy here:

OMD Greatest Hits South African tour

Thursday, 18 April 2024 – Green Point A-Track, Green Point, Cape Town

Saturday, 20 April 2024 – Marks Park Sports Club in Emmarentia, Johannesburg

Tickets for the general public will be on sale beginning Wednesday, October 25 at 9am local time.

For additional information on OMD’s SA tour dates, visit: https://breakoutevents.co.za/