Sony Music Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe

2009

Andrew Fletcher,  Dave Gahan,  Martin Gore


[ BBC ] : As if to underline the artlessness of 90 percent of 'modern' pop acts who currently trade in 80s recreations, acts like U2 and the Pet Shop Boys are currently back to doing what they used to do so well. It's as if they're saying: ''hold on, we're not dead yet. stop dancing on graves that haven't even been dug.'' And now, joining 2009's roster of middle aged marvels, here come Depeche Mode. Sounds Of The Universe, the band's first album for four years reveals, here a trio who still sound just as committed and creative as they did 20 years ago. Maybe more so.

The album packs a raft of analogue synths and crunchy new wave guitar riffs. While advance notice of the album warned of the use of old school gear to evoke the cosmic, the band needed no ironic excuse to get out the Korgs and Moogs. They were doing this well before today's striplings were even a glint in the milkman's eye, so surely they have the right to wield such retro gear. And they wield it very well indeed. Like a barely reformed bad boy Dave Gahan intones, ''I could corrupt you, it would be ugly''. But despite the posturing this is a strangely warming soupcon of Eastern European cold war menace with a dash of turbo-charged Saturn Five thrown in on tracks like Come Back.

While single Wrong rides on a massed chorus and litany of ill-fortune, tracks like Perfect or Peace brim with poise and beautifully placed electronics that bring the best of Kraftwerk's very human tinkering to mind. Many of the songs remind us that self redemption is something they're justly proud of. ''I'm leaving bitterness behind this time. I'm cleaning out my mind'' sings Gahan. And while many may have scoffed at the teens from Basildon's transformation to smack addled leather and rubber goths, Martin Gore's way with a tune is fairly undeniable.

[ AllMusic ] : 2005's Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode's strongest albums -- the combination of Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result -- especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood's heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion -- Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single "Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work in particular while reworking it to match both Gahan and Martin Gore's current lyrical and songwriting techniques. On balance, Sounds is one of Depeche's lower-key albums, but not without explosive or dramatic moments by any means, though.

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