Tale Of The Tape: The story of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s ‘Architecture & Morality’

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) drew on electronic experimentation and a do-it-yourself approach to help establish British synthpop. Their third album, *Architecture & Morality*, marked a bold change in scale, bringing grand, almost religious soundscapes into their distinctive, intellectually minded pop.

Recorded in Liverpool and at The Manor as synthpop gained momentum in 1981, the album used choral samples and a Mellotron to create its sweeping arrangements. It included “Souvenir”, “She’s Leaving” and the seven-minute “Sealand”, while its two Joan of Arc songs were released as successive singles, each reaching the UK top five. The article places this ambition in the context of OMD’s earlier “Enola Gay”, which reached number eight in 1980 despite addressing the horror of nuclear war.