Has someone just turned the light off? No, it’s the 11th? Depeche Mode album. Their first since 2001’s ‘Exciter’ and an album that sees them revitalized and as dark as ever.

Unlike New Order who are dragging their legacy into the ground, Depeche Mode prove there’s life in the old dog yet with an album which is their best since 1993’s ‘Songs of faith and devotion’

Following the solo success of Dave Gahan’s 2003 debut ‘Paper Monsters’, he finally breaks the song writing monopoly of Martin Gore and provides three of the tracks on this set.
One of them being the excellent ‘Suffer Well’, which is easily the best thing they’ve recorded in over a decade showing Billy Corgan that the Smashing Pumpkins may have managed a convincing Depeche Mode album with ‘Adore’ but only 25 years experience in miserablism can sound this good and get away with it.

‘John The Revelator’ is equally as good with the Mode doing their electro rockabilly skank with confusing lyrics about claiming religion. Elsewhere the usual subjects of sex death and Jesus are all present and correct.

It’s pretty heavy going but Depeche Mode were never a barrel of laughs anyway were they?  7/10

Chris Todd