(Venusnote/Mute/EMI)

Synth-pop overlords’ 12th album exerts less magic than expected

Considering the Basildon, Essex electronauts are his all-time favourite band, this writer can’t help but be biased towards Depeche Mode … but what the hell, let’s be honest here. After twenty-nine years and a long slew of moody electronic music classics, DM’s latest full-lengh Sounds Of The Universe packs a disappointing whimper: it’s not great – merely good. Ben Hillier-produced, like 2005’s superb Playing The Angel, the record somewhat dismayingly lacks a huge, immediate song; only the writhing single Wrong is instantly memorable on first listen – yet it’s hardly as knockout as I Feel You, Precious or even Dream On. Ever a phenomenal vocalist, Dave Gahan hits his highest ever falsetto on the electro-gospel Peace, however his three compositions (Hole To Feed, Come Back and Miles Away/The Truth) all fall short of Martin Gore’s mark. “My little soul will leave a footprint” he insists on the Gore-written Little Soul, but fans might have to wait for Dave to better his stellar solo effort Hourglass. On the established glistening scale, a strong, arpeggio-laced number like In Sympathy could be the sibling to PTA’s Suffer Well, while Spacewalker is a brief, classy instrumental in the vein of Exciter’s Easy Tiger. “Another lonely universe”– exploring Perfect also passes arbitrary muster and the lilting, Gore-sung Jezebel reveals itself to be the album’s true saving grace. Now let’s wait another four years for the next DM release and hope SOTU grows on us in the meantime.

***½

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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