The electro-pop trend continues, but in the case of Depeche Mode there’s a darker edge compared to Pet Shop Boys, closer to Kraftwerk in a harder sound. Not that electronica didn’t often have a darker edge to it, even when joined to pop tunes. But this, relatively late, entry into the genre feels like another transitional piece between early Eighties and early Nineties.
The tracks are all pretty solid, but there are some interesting oddities as well – helped by some Eno-esque shenanigans in the production; sampling the sound of pneumatic doors closing, deliberately avoiding using chords but instead building them from individual instruments instead (as one would with vocal harmonies). The result is tracks like Little 15 which took inspiration from Michael Nyman’s score for the Peter Greenaway film A Zed & Two Noughts (was that really in 1985? Yikes!). I Want You Now uses a mix of heavy breathing, and an open accordion to mimic heavy breathing, giving a kind of porn film backing sound under the music, while Pimpf [sic] is a dark and sinister piano-driven instrumental (with a touch of industrial) that sounds like the opening to a horror film.
I haven’t mentioned any band members because they basically operate as a collective (apart from David Gahan on vocals). Since it’s all electronic, everyone obviously does a bit of programming and sampling.
This one’s pretty good.
Comments
Post a Comment