Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Depeche Mode
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 2013
Length: 58:05
Rating: 2.5/5
The thirteenth studio album from synth-pop institution Depeche Mode is also the hardest to win over in their long-running career. The first single, Heaven, already hinted at it, and the follow-up, Soothe My Soul, confirmed it. Neither one manages to settle in your ear, which is definitely not the Depeche Mode singles tradition.
With »Delta Machine«, Depeche Mode offer absolutely nothing new, nothing we haven’t heard before, nothing they’ve wanted to try and haven’t already tried by now. Really, there’s nothing here to challenge their creative genius. This time around, that genius seems to have got stuck somewhere, forgotten. If it’s only on a temporary holiday, let’s at least hope it hasn’t gone bankrupt for good. Depeche Mode used to be the band that pushed back musical horizons and paved the way for new musical dimensions that inspired younger bands. They were generators of the new, the very definition of musical innovation, of artistic challenge. When they arrived on the scene they caused a proper little revolution, and with their later creative moves they successfully kept up their expressive productivity, relevance and artistic interest. Part of their integrity was that tantalizing element of unpredictability, which led plenty of fans to gratefully buy the new album before they’d even tried out what Depeche Mode were actually delivering in terms of artistic direction.
None of that can be said for »Delta Machine« with any certainty. Take the lead single, Heaven, a track that should »knock the listener’s socks off«: it’s easy to figure out right away that Heaven once again draws its main motif relentlessly from blues and gospel. That’s exactly what Depeche Mode introduced to the world as a hugely successful and interesting hybrid of electronics and blues back in 1993 on »Songs Of Faith And Devotion«. And you get to that punchline already with the chorus melody of the opener, Welcome To My World. Later on, Depeche Mode lean on the conceptual foundation of »Songs Of Faith And Devotion« even more heavily in Slow.
Still, credit where it’s due. Listen to a track like Heaven and it’s clear that the melody sits incredibly well in Dave Gahan’s vocal register, with passion and emotion sparkling at full dose. In that respect, Depeche Mode don’t hide anything on the new album. They’re too experienced, too well-versed. The performance is excellent. The sound collages and sampling are once again craftily sophisticated, merging into that famously dark landscape of total minimalism, which once more trusts one of their creative mottos: »less is more«. Classic. No departure from that here. The only problem is that the songs »don’t grab you«. The album as a whole just »doesn’t stick«.
Then there are Angel and the closer, Goodbye, which draw on the main guitar motif of the ultra-hit I Feel You as their foundation. The main difference is that the motifs in Angel and Goodbye are underpinned by a different rhythmic loop.
The album picks up some more interesting artistic spring in Secret To The End, which is colored with a bit more DJ-style techno rhetoric and recognizable floating synth sounds from the eighties. Here Depeche Mode especially manage to capture the right combination of their typical synth-pop figures, paired with Dave Gahan’s memorable, well-defined vocal line. From verse to chorus. Right behind it comes one of the album’s more successful tracks, My Little Universe. Here Depeche Mode retreat into even greater sonic minimalism, coloring it with just two samples of Gahan’s line. The simplicity is striking, pointing almost back to the start of their career. It’s amply compensated by the harmonizing of the vocal lines, where the tonal character of Martin Gore’s voice once again plays an essential role, both dramatizing and defining the memorable chorus melody. A bold build-up, then, of mood drama
Depeche Mode remain exceptionally dark. In fact, »Delta Machine« is a much gloomier album than its predecessor »Sounds Of The Universe« and stirs up the dark feelings of »Playing The Angel« (2005). It also steers clear of danceable rhythms, with the exception of Broken, which doesn’t manage to be even the previous album’s In Sympathy, let alone Precious from »Playing The Angel«. The lyrics are once again the intersection of two sets: sin and temptation, and forgiveness. A hugely rewarding toolkit for forging any poem you like. Gore has always felt at home here, especially in the period when Depeche Mode started showing off their »naughty boys« nature, meaning the post-»Music For The Masses« era.
The unfortunate choice of lead single alone suggested that you shouldn’t expect the earth to move with the new album. »Delta Machine« suffers from a similarly acute problem as »Playing The Angel«. It completely waters down in the second half. »Delta Machine« doesn’t have a Precious-type track to pull the album out of the gray, even though Broken tries to get somewhere near that comparison. Instead of Broken, they picked Soothe My Soul as the second single, a song whose chorus is a distant »knockoff« of Personal Jezus.
As expected, one track is reserved for Martin Gore on lead vocals. That’s The Child Inside. A dark, masochistic waltz offering the kind of artistic moment Gore has tried out many times in his career, most recently on Jezebel from the previous album. It’s a move in which the artist feels very comfortable. But sadly, predictable once again.
»Delta Machine« is also considerably too long. Thirteen tracks and almost a full hour of playtime. There’s far less tangible musical substance in it, and »Delta Machine« says everything it has to say conceptually after a good half hour. The new album is a tough bone to gnaw on. Longtime fans will be happy with it, but the songs grab you very, very slowly, if they grab you at all. The band’s problem is that they’ve clearly run out of artistic steam and have started to use up old ideas. Luckily, »Delta Machine« recycles from the authorial roots of Depeche Mode’s artistic originality. Though extremely heavy and loaded down with gloom, the less interesting »Delta Machine« is still a good enough product for any CD collection, but it’s light-years away from being a must-have.
Lineup
Dave Gahan – vocals
Martin L. Gore – keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, lead vocals on The Child Inside and Always (a bonus track on the “de luxe” edition of the album)
Andy Fletcher – keyboards
Production
Ben Hillier
Track List
1. Welcome To My World
2. Angel
3. Heaven
4. Secret To The End
5. My Little Universe
6. Slow
7. Broken
8. The Child Inside
9. Soft Touch/Raw Nerve
10. Should Be Higher
11. Alone
12. Soothe My Soul
13. Goodbye
The de-luxe 2CD edition includes the following bonus tracks:
01. Long Time Lie
02. Happens All The Time
03. Always
04. All That’s Mine
