OMD discuss their upcoming tour, Covid-19 and Enola Gay

OMD have sold more than 25 million singles and 15 million albums, making them one of the biggest bands of the Eighties.

To mark the 40th anniversary of their hugely successful second album, Architecture and Morality, co-founders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys will return to the stage to perform the album in full at venues across the country.

After recently recovering from Covid-19 and dealing with the loss of close friend and founder of the Motor Museum Studio in Liverpool, Hami Haralambous, to the virus, singer-guitarist Andy said he cannot wait to say goodbye to the “new normal” and return to the stage.

He said: “Hopefully the vaccine will roll out and we’ll get back to the old normal because this new normal, I don’t like it.

“Trying to do gigs with people standing two metres apart and trying to put on gigs for people online, it’s difficult to create a vibe.

“There is nothing that can replace the energy of what happens when there is a large number of people in one room, at one moment, with the band and they respond to the music and we respond to that. It becomes a circle of energy.

“I miss that. I thrive on that and I can’t wait to do that again.”

OMD were set to perform at several festivals this summer, however the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of all their appearances, as well as the band’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.

But the first national lockdown in March provided Andy with a window of opportunity to write new music.

He said: “It’s been frustrating to not be able to play live since February, but by definition a concert is a mass gathering so that’s the end of that.

“The other thing is because we have been locked down and because we haven’t been playing, I have rediscovered the creative power of boredom and it looks like there will be a new OMD album.

“So that’s one positive to come out of this that I’ve actually had enough time to sit down and rediscover some interesting things to write and sing about.”

The cancelled string of concerts has left their crew, who rely on touring for income, in difficult financial circumstances.

The band had planned a special live streamed show from London’s Indigo O2 to raise money and awareness for their crew.

However, the concert had to be postponed after Andy contracted coronavirus and will now take place on March 27, 2021.

Andy said: “Our crew are independent, self-employed and haven’t been able to access any of the government’s furlough schemes and that’s why we were supposed to be doing a concert to raise money for them, which has been postponed until March and that is very frustrating.

“When we announced the postponement, everyone said ‘it’s for your crew, keep the money’ and so actually we’ve been able to give our crew some money from a concert that hasn’t even happened yet.

“The four of OMD that you see on stage are the tip of the iceberg.

“On a UK tour there are 16 other people travelling with us and then there’s people at the venue, the caterers and drivers and an awful lot of people who depend upon the concert going ahead.

“You break one of the links in that chain and the concert doesn’t happen.”

And the impact of coronavirus makes the prospect of next year’s tour even more tantalising.

Andy said: “The album seems to have stood the test of time, people listen to it now and say it still sounds fresh and interesting.

Maybe because it was weird at the time it’s become timeless, because it wasn’t of its time.”

Andy has promised that alongside playing the album in full, fans can also expect to hear other hits including the 1980 anti-war song, Enola Gay.

This year marks 40 years since the single was released, and 75 years since the Second World War atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the Enola Gay aircraft.

To mark the milestone, OMD will release a limited edition 12 inch coloured vinyl single on November 27.