Toward completion of the gruelling recording sessions for English Electric, there were internal doubts about the band's future. Morale had risen after several months of touring the album, however. Keyboardist Paul Humphreys said in August 2013: "We're already talking about what we should be doing next. We've got a great idea for a new album actually." By the turn of 2015, writing of the album had "started in earnest", with song titles "The Punishment of Luxury" and "Evolution of Species" being announced. The Punishment of Luxury takes its name from a 1891 painting by Italian artist Giovanni Segantini. In December 2016, OMD frontman Andy McCluskey expounded: "We've taken that idea and extrapolated it into sort of... a metaphor for modern life, really. First world problems. All of the shit we have to deal with is only a problem that's created for you by some suggestion that came from a marketing man or a PR job that's been done on you." Humphreys said of the album's musical direction: "We're still trying to maintain our connection with our roots, but we've tried to go a bit more, even more stripped-down than English Electric." McCluskey added: "There's a little bit more sort of crunchy industrial sound in a few things, a bit glitchy-er. But you know, the bottom line is that we have a sense of melody that we just can't throw off." In May 2017, McCluskey noted the band's use of "noises and repetitive patterns". "Robot Man", a song about emotional honesty, is an homage to English musician and producer Daniel Miller. It was inspired by Miller's 1978 composition, "Warm Leatherette". The track "La Mitrailleuse" was released on 15 May; its Henning M. Lederer-directed video is based on the 1915 painting by Christopher R. W. Nevinson after which the song is named. The album's first official single, "Isotype", premiered on 29 May and was made available for digital download and streaming the day after. The album's title track was released as the second single on 19 July. "What Have We Done", the only track on the album to feature Humphreys on lead vocals, was released as the third single on 18 September, along with an extended version of the song. A remixed version of "One More Time" followed on 16 February 2018.
Reception
The Punishment of Luxury received generally favourable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album garnered an average score of 71, based on 10 reviews. Jennifer Gannon of The Irish Times called it "synth-pop at its most charming and effortless", while AllMusic critic Tim Sendra described the record as "another strong showing from a band that could have packed it in years ago and become a nostalgia act, but have instead continued to make fine pop art". Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club remarked that, "In the wrong hands, this kind of thing could come across as heavy-handed or detached, but The Punishment of Luxury exudes warmth and empathy throughout". In PopMatters, John Bergstrom said the record's "less-than-fresh" anti-consumerism sentiment renders it a "good album rather than a great one", but noted that much of the material is "on par with the band's best". Lorelei Reddin of the Hampshire Chronicle suggested that The Punishment of Luxury was misinterpreted and somewhat underrated by critics, writing: "This isn't some banal, Hicks-esque "Get a soul!" nuke: it's a plaintive look at the brutal consumerist needle and the damage done. And a bloody terrific record to boot." Particular praise was directed at the six-minute "Ghost Star", which multiple reviewers singled out as the highlight of the album.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Punishment of Luxury. OMD
