British alternative rockers Depeche Mode are heading into the studio this April to record their 14th full-length studio album, the follow-up to 2013’s ‘Delta Machine’. Martin Lee Gore has officially authenticated this in a recent episode of The RobCast. Martin Lee Gore has already recorded a few demos with Dave Gahan and this is expected to follow suit.
This follows releases last year from Martin Lee Gore in the form of the instrumental solo record ‘MG’, and from Dave Gahan in the form of his sophomore release from his band Soulsavers ‘Angels & Ghosts’, the fifth full-length studio album from the production duo Soulsavers. The album was released as digital download, as well as physical CD and vinyl worldwide through Columbia Records on October 23rd, 2015. In support of the album, a tour with a ten-piece band followed with six shows scheduled in the United States and Europe in late October and early November 2015.
If the band plunge to their usual release of new material every four years, the album should be due out in early 2017, with perhaps a promotional single premiering this fall or next winter.
Thirty years ago, Depeche Mode ceased being friendly with teeny boppers and explored territory that was unquestionably genuinely dark, earning them the nickname of “Depress Mode”, and it is hard to come up with a caption that gives away more ideas about the content of an album than ‘Black Celebration’.
Commercially, ‘Black Celebration’ was not as much of a success than ‘Some Great Reward’, but artistically, it certainly was unable to produce another album as juvenile as its predecessors, Martin Lee Gore, Dave Gahan, Alan Wilder and Andy Fletcher were getting way more experimental on this one, embracing industrial vibes and darkwave sounds and combining it with their irresistible pop appeal.
The singles ‘A Question of Time’, ‘A Question of Lust’ and ‘Stripped’ are still fan favorites and classics taken from an album which can easily be called one of the most influential ones of the 80s, the definite step away from their feathery ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ fame, the band’s reputation as one of the best and most successful pop artists ever was fundamentally established with ‘Black Celebration’.
All in all, Depeche Mode’s remarkable career endures through the years, making them a reference to many of today’s metal acts, such as Portuguese infamous Moonspell and Swedish doomsters, Tiamat. This just to name a few, as I am sure that Depeche Mode vastly inspired many musicians out there through their earlier works, as a standard footprint.
