Listen to Joy Division’s early take of ‘Ceremony’
It was the perfect way to mark a new chapter. New Order’s first single following the death of original singer Ian Curtis, ‘Ceremony’, served as a bridge between the band’s past and future, having been written and demoed by Joy Divison while Curtis was still alive. Here, we’ve trawled the archives to bring you this early studio take of the 1981 classic.
Even before Curtis’ death, the members of Joy Division had made a pact that, should any of the band members die, they would continue making music under a different name. Following the singer’s suicide, the band reunited as New Order, with Bernard Sumner taking on the role of vocalist and Gillian Gilbert – who had previously filled in for Curtis on guitar – stepping in as the band’s new keyboardist.
‘Ceremony’ was one of the last songs Joy Divison wrote before Curtis’ passing, with the singer providing lyrics for the track and helping to perform it at the band’s final concert in Birmingham. This early demo is a murky swirl of melodic guitar, pattering snares and skinny basslines, above which Curtis emits a guttural croon that swerves in and out of tune. When New Order returned to the track in 1981, Sumner had to feed Curtis’ vocal take through a graphic equalizer in an attempt to approximate the lyrics, which the late frontman had failed to note down.
Together, the members of New Order transformed the track into a glimmering slice of highly-polished, expansive post-punk, blending minimalistic chord changes with searing waves of rusted distortion to create something transcendentally euphoric. It proved that the chemistry at the heart of the group hadn’t been ruptured and that Curtis would live on in the music of New Order.
On March 6th, 1981, New Order released the first version of ‘Ceremony’, produced by Martin Hannett, via Factory Records. The following September, a new version of the single featuring Gillian Gilbert on guitar was re-issued as a 12-inch, which is the version most people know and love.
The first version is closer to this early demo in that it’s a little rougher around the edges and less compressed. That being said, Hannett seems to have captured the original atmosphere of ‘Ceremony’ more successfully with the second version, managing to retain that wall of sound edge while giving clarity to the lead vocals.
Check out the recording below if you haven’t already.
