Sony Music Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel

2005

Andrew Fletcher,  Dave Gahan,  Martin Gore


[ BBC ] : A return to form. There, I said it. It's a boring old cliché but in this case, an appropriate one. The troubled electro kings have come storming back with album number 11: a deeply personal work which shows off Dave Gahan's dramatic vocals to perfection, and shines with trademark Mode melancholia and dark sexuality.

The mood swings from hurt in tracks like "A Pain That I'm Used To" and "I Want It All" to hope, which tentatively radiates from "Nothing's Impossible". The first single, "Precious", manages to retain a pop catchiness while still remaining very much a lament. The whole album is an ode to isolation and confusion.

Glowing with crystalline synths, softly menacing guitars and fragile contemplation, Playing The Angel conjures up an almost tangible sense of damage. If you want to get a little closer to Gahan's notorious journey to heroin-induced hell and back, you've come to the right place.

[ SPUTNIK ] : It's as if Depeche Mode wanted to make a statement with 'Playing the Angel', after the disappointment of 2001's 'Exciter'. 'Exciter' was soft and mellow but that's not Depeche. So it comes as a much welcomed sonic surprise as the first track opens with ear-shattering siren blasts for the first 20 seconds of 'A Pain That I'm Used To'. Gore's lyrics are as sharp and personal as they've ever been ("All this running around, well its getting me down, just give me a pain that I'm used to"), and although the song has a slow beat it's a million times more catchy than anything heard on 'Exciter'; and it sets the tone for the whole album in terms of quality.

The quality carries itself across the entire record, especially impressive considering Depeche were 25 years old when this album was released in 2005. This return to form can also be heard on 'John the Revelator' - a superb track, featuring a stellar vocal performance from Gahan and a whirling, bubbly synth rhythm. 'The Sinner in Me' is just as effective, displaying an eerie atmosphere as light, airy electronics float around in the background as Gahan delivers Gore’s confessional lyrics, "How sweet life would be, if I could be free, from the sinner me".

Even though it’s the bands eleventh studio album, 'Playing the Angel' manages to tread new ground, as Dave Gahan turns in his first 3 lyrical efforts, to surprisingly brilliant effect. Any fears that he couldn't compete with Gore when it comes to song writing are surely quashed by the sorrowful 'Suffer Well' or the agonising desperation in 'Nothing's Impossible'. The latter has a hollow, cold atmosphere with chilling electronic buzz running underneath detached, gloomy lines like "Just give me a reason, some kind of sign", that manage to be saved by the hopeful chorus, "I still believe in love at first sight, nothing's impossible".