Salford rock band New Order have released a limited edition ‘Blue Monday’ charity t-shirt in collaboration with mental health charity, CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
New Order’s iconic track ‘Blue Monday’ shares it name with the term given to ‘the most depressing day of the year’ as coined by Sky Travel during a press release in 2005. Each year ‘Blue Monday’ falls on the third Monday of January and serves as a reminder of the grey and cold weather which coincides with post-Christmas blues, the breaking of New Year’s resolutions and the eager anticipation of the month’s wage packet.
The track released in 1983 peaked at Number 9 on the UK Official Singles Chart and has since become one of New Order’s most prominent tracks garnering over 400 million streams on Spotify, creating a lasting legacy in synth-rock.
This year’s ‘Blue Monday’ (January 20) marked the rock band’s third collaboration with the charity, releasing another limited edition t-shirt in honour of the day. The exclusive apparel released for this year’s ‘Blue Monday’ places a specific lyric from the track at the forefront of inspiration: “I find it so hard to say what I need to say”. The lyric deeply resonates with the culture of seeking mental health support and the ideal that opening up about mental health troubles is often the hardest part. Placing this lyric at the centre of this year’s collaboration notifies individuals of CALM’s mandate of reducing the taboo surrounding mental health, as a suicide prevention charity “on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives”.
Whilst announcing the collaboration, New Order shared: “Starting a conversation with somebody could be the most important conversation that person ever has. It could be lifechanging”.
Continuing: “We feel, as CALM ambassador, we have the perfect lyrics and message to get out there on the 2025 edition of the CALM Blue Monday t-shirts. And knowing that all the money raised will help make sure CALM are there for even more people who are struggling makes it even more powerful”.
The band are no strangers to confronting mental health stigma, besides their annual collaboration with CALM. In 2022, Bernard Summer and Stephen Morris of New Order participated in a Parliamentary discussion surrounding mental health and suicide prevention, this followed the 42nd Anniversary of Ian Curtis’ passing, Joy Division’s vocalist, and Summer and Morris’ fellow bandmate. Along with this in October 2023, the group participated in a suicide prevention video for World Mental Health Day.
This year’s t-shirt can be purchased here for £29.99, with £10 from each t-shirt sold to be donated to CALM. More information on the initiative and access to help can be found here.
