Photo:
With a four year gap since their last album, there has been a certain amount of anticipation leading up to the release of Depeche Mode’s 13th studio album Delta Machine. Dave Gahan and co have gone about exploring a number of genres and ideas to produce an album that has the potential to sit alongside some of their classic albums of yesteryear.
The Basildon outfit blow away all potential cobwebs with opening song ‘Welcome to my World.’ With some huge buzz-synth bass lines and the familiar tones of lead singer Gahan, it sets up the album almost perfectly. What Depeche Mode have achieved with this album is to honour their well-renowned sounds whilst exploring genres and ideas that make the album feel so complete.
Despite Gahan saying “It's not a blues record, but it definitely has a soulful vibe,” the band has explored the blues genre brilliantly without overdoing things. The bluesy guitar riff that dominates ‘Slow’ works so well alongside the dark and electro-gothic vive that the band have spent years perfecting.
It is not just blues that Depeche Mode have embraced, ‘Angel’ has such a modern dubstep influence about it whereas ‘Soft Touch / Raw Nerve’ encompasses the electro-pop sound present on their career high-point Violator album.
Martin Gore’s song writing themes are predictability bleak. Death, failure, religion and painful tales of love are given so much more meaning with Gahan singing them. Reaching notes that Matt Bellamy thought he had monopolised, the charismatic 50 year-old lead singer excels throughout the album.
The pioneering electro trio swell and swoon their way through the album, picking up on the best of what they created in years gone by and layering this with a new lease of life. Delta Machine almost feels like a follow up/dealing with unfinished business and it feels really nice to have some an iconic band back at their best.
