New Order Craft a Classic House Groove on New Remix of ‘Be a Rebel’

New Order have released a thumping new remix of their first song in five years, “Be a Rebel.”

The so-called “Renegade Spezial Edit” is part of an ongoing collaboration between New Order and Adidas’ Spezial line, which is fronted by Gary Aspden, a sneaker industry vet and long-time fan and friend of New Order. Aspden worked closely with the band on the “Be a Rebel” remix, which finds the group streamlining the song’s already propulsive groove into a more classic house style, amping up the kick drums and slapping plenty of effects on the vocals.

While both the original version of “Be a Rebel” and the new edit are available on streaming services now, a digital bundle featuring more new remixes will be released on November 13th (a 12-inch vinyl version will arrive November 20th). The collection will feature frontman Bernard Sumner’s “Renegade Mix” (part of which was used in an August promotional spot for the Adidas line) and his instrumental version of that mix, as well as Stephen Morris’ “T34 Mix.” Additional remixes will follow, as well.

New Order released “Be a Rebel” in September, originally planning to drop it ahead of their fall tour, although that was rescheduled to 2021 due to Covid-19. “In tough times we wanted to reach out with a new song,” Sumner said in a statement at the time. “We can’t play live for a while, but music is still something we can all share together. We hope you enjoy it… until we meet again.”

“Be a Rebel” marks New Order’s first new music since they released their 10th studio album, Music Complete, in 2015.