With their tenure as a band now approaching 40 years, Depeche Mode are still undeniably one of the biggest acts on the planet. ‘Spirit’ is their 14th studio effort and arrives following a period of outside experimentation following the release of ‘Delta Machine’ in 2013, during which both Martin Gore (‘MG’) and Dave Gahan (‘Angels & Ghosts’ with Soulsavers) put out records under their own steam.
Perhaps more than ever before, they are making a statement here. And we don’t have to wait long to hear it. The opening track, Going Backwards, reveals a clear message about the current state of the world as Gahan sings “we are still in debt to insanities”, “watch men die in real-time” and “we have lost our soul”. If that wasn’t clear enough then the line “going backwards to a caveman mentality” seals the deal, with the words dressed up in familiar dark synths and incessant repetition. It’s a blisteringly strong start in more ways than one.
That message continues throughout ‘Spirit’ as lead single Where’s The Revolution asks its desperate title question. “You’ve been lied to,” Gahan sings. “Who’s making your decisions, you or your religion?” he adds, before labelling people “patriotic junkies”.
For The Worst Crime, the punch becomes even more powerful as the tempo slows to magnify its gloomy resignation towards impending doom. “There’s a lynching in the square,” Gahan sings. Scum then goes one step further as it instructs “pull the trigger”.
Cover Me revisits the band’s tendency for industrial sounds, with subdued, bubbling synths and a cinematic chord sequence elevating the track to a considerable peak. The krautrock beat of So Much Love is also a sinister highlight while the industrial elements are present as part of the funereal plod of Poison Heart and the brilliant No More (This Is The Last Time)’s doomy robotic scene surrounding a relationship breakdown.
There are a couple of tracks where Gore takes the lead, with his vocals eliciting their familiar eerie air on Eternal, where his tendency to warble creates an ominous picture of black clouds and radiation. Album closer Fail, though, possibly represents the least scary moment of his Depeche Mode career despite his line of questioning: “People, what are we thinking, it’s shameful, our standards are sinking.” He ends with a simple declaration: “We’re fucked.”
It may seem unlikely at this stage of their career, but ‘Spirit’ is compelling from start to finish as Depeche Mode continue to defy the odds. The more you play it and the closer you listen, the better it gets. It slowly unravels into a triumphantly powerful message. ‘Delta Machine’ was good, but with such a strong topical focus at its core, ‘Spirit’ may be even better.
Depeche Mode Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sat June 03 2017 - LONDON London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
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