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Depeche Mode: Playing The Angel

They’ve done it again. Against all odds, Depeche Mode have once more created an album which is nothing like their previous releases.

A lion’s share of the glory must go to Ben Hillier, a perfect choice as the producer, who imbues the album with an almost experimental edge - no doubt fuelled by Martin Gore’s penchant for minimalistic click house and distorted, almost Autechre-like percussion sounds. But this is not techno - it’s not even on the same planet.

Playing the Angel sounds like it was produced by an amalgamation of SOFAD-era Alan Wilder, who’s replaced his grandiose orchestral arrangements with masses of warm synth pads and buzzing analogue synths, and a sombre, slightly depressed Vince Clarke, who was denied the use of an arpeggiator and forced to tune down his synths by two whole octaves.

That is, apart from the first single, Precious, which sounds nothing like the rest of the album. Yet that, too, follows the plan - intentional or not - Depeche Mode have crafted when it comes to selecting the first single from a new album. Personal Jesus and Barrel of a Gun gave the impression of, respectfully, a rockier and heavier album to follow. Yet the albums were not what the singles promised (or threatened). This time, Precious hints of a lighter, almost up-beat (well, as up-beat as DM can get) style. Not surprisingly, Playing the Angel does a full 180-degree about-face right after dumping Precious on an unsuspecting crowd and never looks back.

1.

A Pain That I’m Used To starts with a heavily distorted synthline which reminds one immediately of The Dead of Night. And there the similarity ends. The song moves at quite a nice pace, with just enough bpm to make it danceable, ticking and throbbing along effortlessly, almost modestly, like Dave’s vocals. The chorus starts, and Hillier turns all knobs to eleven. Distorted synth from the beginning of the song brings with it a rumbling bassline which doesn’t bother to knock: it kicks the door in. Strong vocals and catchy melody hook apply the finishing touch, and it’s obvious to anyone this track will be a single at some point in time. (Update: after I wrote this preview, ‘Pain’ has indeed been confirmed as the 2nd single release.)

2.

John The Revelator begins with an almost Glockenspiel-like melody. Dave’s vocals are run through an obvious effect, and the whole affair has a distantly Personal Jesus-like feel to it. Heavily processed guitars often rise up to steal the limelight, setting the listener ready for similar experiences on practically every track. The shout-along chorus is not catchy enough to warrant a single release, and the instrumental bits between vocal parts are more akin to rhythmical sound effects than melodies.

3.

Suffer Well was written by Dave. It’s quite uptempo, starting with synth sound effects, then breaking into in-your-face distorted guitars. Hillier fills the track with huge pads, random crunches and noise. The chorus left me unimpressed, though there’s a chance this one will grow on repeated listenings.

4.

The Sinner In Me introduces yet more distorted synths, followed by almost Walking In My Shoes-like drums; slow, dark and heavy. Staying well below 100bpm, this feels like a very slow ballad speeded up slightly. There’s a surprising contrast between different parts of the song: while some swim deep, others have a much lighter touch. Like with Precious, the chorus of the track takes some finding at first. PTA contains very few songs that open up on the first listen, and TSIM would’ve definitely warranted a few repeats. Too bad there wasn’t time for any.

5.

Next up is Precious, which, like me, you’ve all heard a thousand times. The version on the album sounds identical to the “leaked” video version, with guitars on top and Dave’s vocals slightly buried during the chorus. Of course, the song sounds a helluva lot better coming from a properly mastered CD.

6.

Macrovision is the sixth track and the first to feature vocals by Martin Gore. The song’s got nothing to do with the infamous brand of copy protection schemes. Macrovision starts without drums or percussion, and anyone would be forgiven for thinking it’s going to be a ballad. The tumbling bassline gets some backing from muted drums for the chorus, followed by a bridge filled with raw, distorted percussion. Production of the track reminded me of Martin’s demos for Counterfeit 2. Excellent chorus, by the way.

7.

Second track written by Dave Gahan, I Want It All, is probably the low point of the album. Below 100bpm, it’s filled with audio gimmicks, distorted drums and percussion and plenty of heavily processed semi-acoustic guitars, which is usually mixed on top of everything else. There’s also a very brief, almost Kraftwerkian synth sound with an appropriate melody making an appearance around the halfway point. IWIA is a very hard song to “get”, as it meanders from part to part without much apparent structure. Name of the song is thrown in willy-nilly, like an afterthought.

8.

Nothing’s Impossible is the album’s third and final song written by Dave, and it’s incredibly dark. It’s also a low-end bass monster, growling mightily on at somewhere around the 100-110bpm mark. There’s a huge amount of noise and synths below Dave’s vocals, a bunch of very odd synth sounds, and a recurring guitar melody on top of the lot. Dave’s vocals are almost overwhelmed by a wall of noise during choruses. All in all, the best of Dave’s efforts, and not a bad track at all.

9.

Introspectre is yet another of those interminable and totally unnecessary interludes that somehow find their way onto Depeche Mode’s albums. Clocking in at 1:45, this one’s mercifully short, leaving no impression what-so-ever.

10.

Damaged People, track number 10, is sung by Martin. In my notebook there’s a full page of hastily scribbled text about this one, most of it totally unreadable. It’s one hell of a song and the only one on the album which made the hairs on my arms stand up and cold shivers run down my spine. The way guitars and synths swell up to support Martin’s vocals… whoa. Then there’s the lyrics:

When you’re in my arms
The world makes sense
There’s no pretense
And you’re crying

When your lips touch mine
And I lose control
I forget I am old
And dying

Make of that what you will, devotees.

11.

Lillian, the penultimate track, is one of the faster songs on the album - and it’s simply screaming to be a single (Update: my guess is it will be the next single release after A Pain That I’m Used To). Dave’s vocals are run through a FM radio-like effect, there’s plenty of the now-familiar processed guitar plucking on top, as well as an entire myriad of pulsating, throbbing, churning and twisting synth sounds. I jotted down a bit from the lyrics:

Oh Lillian look what you done
You’ve stripped my heart
Ripped it apart
In the name of fun

Definitely one of the high points of PTA, and one of the more easily accessible songs as well.

12.

PTA ends with The Darkest Star, sung by Dave with backing vocals by Martin. It clocks in at 6:50, featuring both quiet and loud parts, filtered synths, lonely piano arrangements, quietly throbbing bassline and some rather threatening sounds thrown in for good measure. (I guess they didn’t have a kitchen sink readily available.) Another track which absolutely refuses to open immediately. The chorus is simply amazing, with the sort of vocal bellowing you might expect from an ungodly hybrid of a human and a mythological beast from the pits of hell. It makes you want to repent your sins and bow down towards the speakers. What a way to end the album.

Any final thoughts, you might ask? Well, yes, quite a few, but they’re all too jumbled to make much sense of right now. It’s a very difficult album to get to grips with, I can tell you that much. Expect to spend a lot of time with it for some of the songs to finally open up. I hesitate to compare PTA to any of the previous albums, simply because it’s so different - and yet, it’s so obviously Depeche Mode you might shed a tear or two.