These are strange days for music, and even stranger days for Depeche Mode. As Ed Sheeran occupies the top 16 spots on the Irish singles chart and Dave Gahan and co were recently forced to denounce scurrilous comments by white nationalist Richard Spencer describing them as the “unofficial band of the…

As Thursday slowly becomes Friday across Europe, release day is finally here. Depeche Mode’s 14th studio album, “Spirit”, is hitting retailers – of both the digital and good old fashioned brick’n’mortar variety – right NOW! The album is a powerful statement, lyrically capturing the political…

In a time of sociopolitical upheaval, Depeche Mode emerged with Spirit. Dark, brooding, and painfully relevant upon its release, the collection is one of their most intense and aggressive statements, isolating the frustration, anger, tension, and dread coursing across the globe in the wake of the…

A misguided endorsement from one of America’s most hated figures only serves to make the fury here sound even more righteous Inconsolable gloom spiked with bursts of fizzing anger … Depeche Mode. Photograph: Anton Corbijn From New Labour and Britpop to Donald Trump and Neil…

Anton Corbijn Depeche Mode Over their nearly four decades together as a band, British synth-rock icons Depeche Mode have released 13 albums, topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, toured the world countless times, and garnered enough acclaim and influence to be nominated for the Rock…

We are the bigots, we have not evolved/we have no respect, we have lost control. That’s the opening line to Going Backwards, the brooding first track off Depeche Mode’s 14th studio album Spirit. Even for a band known for moodiness, it’s an especially dour note. It’s clear the electronic titans are…

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I reviewed Spirit last week for XS Noize and did so having listened to the album twice in quick succession, basing my review on early impressions of the record. Obviously, being the person I am, it takes a lot for my first impression of any new Depeche material to be anything other than rapturous,…

There is no band of the Eighties generation who've remained both as big, and as great, as Depeche Mode. Duran Duran? Lightweights. U2? Sunk into self-parody a long time ago. But the boys from Basildon are something else: they've come through all the pressures of fame, addiction, ageing and the rest…

So after first listen I am quite impressed with 'Spirit' although I can fully understand the views previously expressed by Samuli, Michael and some others that have heard it as there are no stand out tracks and nothing jumps out as a second single Going BackwardsA strong first track with a sound…