Not to be too morbid; but in a year marked by the tragic losses of Jay Reatard, Charles Haddon, and Paul Dedrick, it’s startling to consider it has also been 30 years since the world lost Ian Curtis of Joy Division. But the group’s two albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, continue to find a new audience thanks to the ongoing careers of bassist Peter Hook and guitarist Bernard Sumner. Now, drummer Stephen Morris will look to further celebrate the band’s legacy with the release of a new career retrospective, enigmatically titled, + -.
Due for release on December 6th via Rhino Records, the 10-disc box set contains 10 seven-inch singles taken from various phases of the band’s five-year existence. Thus, everything included comes from tracks off a planned debut under the moniker Warsaw, to “Isolation” and “Heart and Soul” off the posthumously released, Closer.
Journalist Jon Savage curated the set, while Morris teamed up with Frank Arkwright to oversee the material’s remastering. Joy Division collaborator Peter Saville provided the artwork.
The release will be limited to just 5,000 copies. Of those, the first 500 will be individually numbered and contain a piece of art from Saville. And for everyone lacking a turntable, the release also includes a downloadable MP3 version. The entire tracklist can be found below.
‘+ -‘ Tracklist:
01. Warsaw
02. Leaders of Men
03. No Love Lost
04. Failures
05. Digital
06. Glass
07. Autosuggestion
08. From Safety to Where
09. Transmission
10. Novelty
11. Atmosphere
12. Dead Souls
13. Komakino
14. Incubation
15. As You Said
16. Love Will Tear Us Apart
17. These Days
18. She’s Lost Control (12-inch Version)
19. Love Will Tear Us Apart 2
20. Isolation
21. Heart and Soul