2005's
Playing the Angel proved to be one of
Depeche Mode's strongest albums -- the combination of
Ben Hillier's production, the emergence of
David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle
Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour. As a result -- especially given the return of
Hillier, the first producer to work on two
Depeche albums in a row since
Flood's heyday with
Violator and
Songs of Faith and Devotion --
Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being
Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single
"Wrong" didn't undercut at all. After all these years, though,
Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what's quite astonishing about
Sounds is how they've returned to the equipment and textures of their early-'80s work in particular while reworking it to match both
Gahan and
Martin Gore's current lyrical and songwriting techniques. On balance,
Sounds is one of
Depeche's lower-key albums, but not without explosive or dramatic moments by any means, though.
"Come Back," one of
Gahan's three songwriting contributions, captures a sudden sense of vast space right from its start, the deep-chugging percussion and reverberation perfectly contrasting the soft chimes on the verses, while
"Peace," with an opening bassline straight out of the days of the band's pop-industrial phase, and a stellar vocal turn from
Gahan, is an absolute high point. But
"In Chains," the slow-building start to the disc, sets the tone best for
Sounds as a whole, with a hushed keyboard introduction,
Gahan's swoon-worthy vocals (showcasing some of his best falsetto work yet),
Gore's compressed funk guitar blasts and, above all else, the sense of older styles and sounds -- classic drum machines, early synthesizers, a rumbling bass undercarriage -- serving new purposes. More overt nods to earlier days appear with songs such as
"Fragile Tension" and
"In Sympathy," both featuring keyboards and beats sounding beamed in from
A Broken Frame days but also with beautiful vocals that the younger
Gahan could never have so easily done and guitar textures that the younger
Gore had yet to fully embrace.
"Perfect," meanwhile, almost reaches back to
Speak & Spell thanks to an opening keyboard line that immediately calls the song
"Puppets" to mind, but again it's more of a launching point for the current band's sound rather than a simple exercise in retrospection.
Gore's sole lead vocal appears towards the end of the album on the enjoyable if understated
"Jezebel," but his uncanny knack for harmonizing with
Gahan throughout remains intact, with stand-out performances including the understated clatter and chime of
"Little Soul" and his bravura turn toward the end of
"Wrong." On the whole,
Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows
Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on "roots" music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination -- not bad for a band with almost three decades under its collective belt. ~ Ned Raggett
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