In these strange, uncertain times, trust the creatives to ask the tough questions.
Depeche Mode’s latest album Spirit, which dropped overnight, does just that as the veteran British band explores the zeitgeist. It's a journey into the dark places.
From the opening bars of “Going Backwards,” frontman Dave Gahan lets us all know what’s on DM’s collective mind. “We are not there yet, we have not evolved/We have no respect, we have lost control/We’re going backwards, ignoring the realities/Going backwards, are you counting up the casualties,” he sings.
Gahan and co. go deeper still. Next up: “Where’s the Revolution,” in which Gahan unloads, “You’ve been kept down, you’ve been pushed ‘round/You’ve been lied to, you’ve been fed truths/Who’s making your decisions, you or your religion/Your government your countries, you patriotic junkies.”
With Spirit (which spans 17 track on the “deluxe” edition), Depeche Mode's career runs 14 albums deep, with more than 100 million records sold.
Produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco (Foals, Florence & The Machine, Arctic Monkeys), the new LP is the followup to 2013’s Delta Machine, which bowed at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and marked a new era with Columbia after a 30-year career with Warner Music labels Sire and Reprise and EMI's Mute and Capitol.
The band, comprised of Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher, has also plotted the Global Spirit Tour, an international trek that is slated to kick off on May 5 with a show at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
