BIOGRAPHY2009
After the new single had been represented at the Echo-Awards in Berlin on
21 February, the single Wrong / Oh Well finally was officially
released on 6 April. There were several different versions of
Wrong available, while there was just one different version of
Oh Well available, the Black Light Odyssey Remix. The video for
Wrong was directed and filmed by Patrick Daughters in December 2008.
The actor in the video was Liars drummer Julian Gross. The video was nominated
for a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video.
At a fairly early stage, the band had decided to release Wrong as the
first single because it was quite different to anything they had released before.
And it really stood out of the album tracks.
Fletch: "Wrong was the song of which we thought it would make
a big impact. We thought it would be good to come back with a bang. The first
single has to be challenging to the audience, something to makes them react."
They thought the same about the video. "Anton Corbijn normally does our videos,
and we had an idea from Anton and we had ideas from for other people. One of
them was Patrick Daughters. And Patrick's idea didn't include the band very
much, and Anton's idea did include the band. And, y'know, I think on these
days MTV doesn't play many videos anymore. So finally we decided for
Patrick's idea because it we thought it had more effect on the audience. We
don't like making videos anymore, so it was quite enjoyable."[1]
Oh Well was the first track to be released which had been co-written
by Martin and Dave.
Martin: "It wasn't a real co-write because I had originally written
the song as an instrumental but Dave heard it and liked it and he took it
back to his hotel room and wrote some words and a melody over the top. It
wasn't like we sat in a room and wrote it together."[2]
(Fragile Tension - with friendly permission of © Lynn (M)factr)
Unfortunately, some demos leaked out, and finally the whole mastered album.
They took it as it came, and comforted themselves in the knowledge that the
fans would buy it anyway. They were less happy about the leaked demos, as it
seemed to them like showing someone an unfinished painting.
On 20 April the album Sounds of the Universe (SOTU) was released.
A year later they received the award for Best International Group - Rock / Pop
at the 2010-Echo-Awards in Germany for it.
The band, of course, tried to explain the album, said things like that they
wanted it to sound as if they drove with a car in a tunnel by night and that
this album was less "dark" than Playing the Angel. Again, they tried to
point out that there was a lot of humour in their lyrics.
Martin: "There's always a lot of humour on our records but there's
definitely more on this one. It's mainly dark humour but this time it's
sometimes more obvious. In the song Little Soul there's a small
musical break, and every time I hear that I laugh. I hope the listener will
laugh when they hear this too.[3] Well, I think Jezebel is a good name for
an exotic booze. I imagine it would taste like a
strong-smelling perfume. There must be a perfume called Jezebel."
Fletch: "You can't drink perfume!"
Martin: "Well, you can, but they take it away from
you if you go to rehab."
Fletch: "It would be quite good for goth girls, wouldn't it?"
Martin: "Women are different now; they like wearing
T-shirts with things like SLUT and WHORE and stuff. I'm sure
a bottle of Jezebel would go down well."[4]
While Martin changed the title Footprint to Little Soul and was
worrying that Miles Away was a Madonna song title, and wanted Dave to
change the title to Miles Away/The Truth Is, he wasn't worried about
Jezebel. Of course it's a biblical figure, but nevertheless it's also a
song title on Alan's album Liquid.
On the SOTU-box set they also released some old demo-tracks.
Fletch: "Initially it was my idea to put the demos on the box set.
I was convinced that this was unique content that people would appreciate
and that would make the purchase of this box set worthwhile. Martin didn't
mind at all. He was fine with it. The main problem we encountered was to actually
find the demos. Basically the 5 people that you'd think who would logically
have the demos would be Alan, Daniel [Miller], Dave, Martin and me. But as
it ended up, Alan had them somewhere tucked away and couldn't find them
directly and that was also the case with Daniel, Martin and Dave. I knew
I had lots of demos but they were in storage so I dug them up. In the end
I recouped about hundred demo songs - which also means that there are hundreds
that we don't have anymore ... and that includes for instance the demo for
Personal Jesus which seems to be lost forever."[5]
He promised that they would release some more demos in the future. (They didn't
when Delta Machine was released, but they had some problems with the various
labels, and on the other hand, you don't know how many albums they will make in
future.)
(Miles Away / The Truth Is - with friendly permission of © Maria Gay)
Then they prepared for the tour. There was no question of not touring the album,
because especially for Dave this is the thing that makes sense for him. And of
course they were aware that you sell a record by touring today.
Martin: "We've done a lot of touring for a so-called 'electronic band,'
and we've proven that electronic music works in a live format and in a huge
live format. In a way, what we're going to do now is a landmark like the Rose
Bowl gig. We're going out to play our first stadium tour. There's not another
electronic band that has gone out to play a stadium tour."[6]
Although for them it's always a bit of a nightmare to pick a setlist, -
Fletch: "We're a democracy, so it's like the Eurovision Song Contest.
We have to cast votes for our favourite tracks."
Dave: "We'll do some old stuff and some staples. And we'll have fun
doing songs like Just Can't Get Enough. We can't ignore that. It would
be like the Stones not doing (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."[7]
- in the end the setlist turned out like most previous setlists.
This caused lots of discussions on several message-boards about the question
whether DM might have become too "Rolling Stones". In fact, DM had never played
as many different songs on a tour as on this one, although all of the all-time
classics like Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence and Never Let Me Down
Again appeared. That the live versions aren't as varied as they used to be
in former times is probably mainly a problem for the hardcore fanbase. People
who sometimes listen to DM and have been to one concert on a tour probably wouldn't
notice it. But it is noticeable that although the band had announced that they
wanted to play as many songs from the new album as possible, they didn't play
many from it in the end.
Martin: "When we're playing, you look in the front row and there's a
lot of younger kids as well as the older audience. People are coming to hear
the new record as well as songs we made 20 years ago. Obviously, we are the
worst people to have any subjectivity on the matter, but we are really
aware of our legacy and not repeating ourselves. The day we start making music
and don't think we're achieving something - or stop enjoying it - we'll stop."[8]
This led to the question whether this was the last album and the ultimate tour
(as they had been asked before during the promotion for Playing the Angel).
Martin: "We've been together for 29 years and we've had ups and downs,
but I think if Depeche Mode ended tomorrow we'd end on a positive note."
Fletch: "It's hard to think about your farewell gig and where it would be."
Martin: "It would have to be the Pyramids."
On 6 May the Tour of the Universe (TOTU) began in Esch-sur-Alzette in
Luxembourg as a warm-up gig. The first real gig was played in Tel Aviv. They
started the tour there because they were supposed to end Touring the Angel there
"but unfortunately the Israel/Lebanon war got in the way of it," Martin said.
Fletch: "They've got different agendas. They like music, but missiles
are just more important."
Martin: "Yes. We had to make the decision not to fly in and do the
gig because there were missiles flying around and to make up for that we're
starting this time in Tel Aviv."[9]
It was astonishing to read in some comments in the internet that they were blamed
for cancelling the gig in 2006. Some people thought it would have been a
political statement to play there, no matter if there was a conflict going on
or not. I think it's harsh to demand playing a gig in a crisis region. You not
only endanger yourself and your crew members, you also endanger everyone in
the audience.
DM has never been a political band. They did not even react to the attack on
11 September 2001, although they were on tour at the time. While other
artists cancelled gigs, made a speech or asked for a minute's silence, DM did
nothing. They simply played their gigs (11 September in Vienna and
12 September in Budapest) without saying or doing anything special.
Some people thought it was a strange, even a cold reaction. But maybe it was the
best reaction to show. If you don't have words for something, it's always the best
to say nothing at all and carry on as usual, showing that
the world still turns (from Insight, Ultra).
Some political statements were made from the recording of SOTU onwards,
like supporting gay rights. But you couldn't get rid of the feeling that their
way of not mentioning political issues, as they had done before, was the better one.
However, it seems that Tel Aviv and DM weren't a good combination, because with
this gig some problems started.
Fletch: "Actually on the first gig of the tour in Israel, I had the
first bit of bad news: My father died."[10]
The gig in Athens had to be cancelled because Dave fell ill. It was said it was
a severe bout of gastroenteritis. While in hospital, further medical tests
revealed a low-grade malignant tumour in Dave's bladder.
Fletch: "Actually, Dave was very lucky because he had gastroenteritis
and they found this tumor very early.[11] It was low grade. It was just a
question of zapping it out. I said to Dave to other day, 'I can't wait for
your autobiography.' It's quite a story developing.[12] Dave has really got a
competitive spirit in him. If anything, he thrives on these sorts of things."[13]
This information was released very late. Too late. Instead, an extremely bad new
policy was in practice. While Dave had a surgery in New York, fans thought the
concert in Poland might still take place. While he was recovering from surgery,
fans thought other planned concerts might take place. A lot of rumours were
floating around, it seemed to take ages before it was confirmed that the gigs
were cancelled. The band apologized, saying that they hadn't known how things
would continue. Sure, but if someone undergoes surgery, it's obvious that they
won't be able to play a concert on that day, and that they will need some time
to recover afterwards.
With the release of Exciter in 2001 the band had established a
presence on the Internet. The Bong-magazine that had been used for information
and interaction until then was stopped in the same year. Instead, they now had
a website and a message-board. And while they had shown some interest in this
new way of communication, it was now diminishing increasingly. Around the time
of SOTU the band remarked that their official forum was a "big moan"
because people were complaining about a lot of things, and Dave even wondered
whether the people posting there had a job at all.
And while other bands are using the Internet a lot, providing news, using
Facebook and Twitter, and being interactive with their fans, DM's official
website and Facebook site got less interesting over the course of time. They
went retro, and they became much more retro with the next album, Delta Machine,
at least as far as their way of communicating was concerned.
The tour was re-started in Leipzig on 8 June, comprising 18 concerts
in Europe, until 9 July, when another concert had to be cancelled because
Dave injured his leg.
In the meantime, on 15 June, the single Peace was released. The single
version of the song has a completely different introduction than the album version.
It charted at No. 57 in the UK charts; this is the band's second lowest UK singles
chart position since Little 15. In Germany Peace reached No. 25.
It was not commercially released in the U.S. The video was filmed in Romania by
French duo Jonas & François. It featured the Romanian actress Maria Dinulescu
and was the first video without any of the band members, but this was due to
Dave's illness.
On 24 July the American leg started in Toronto, comprised 22 concerts,
and ended on 5 September. In August, they had to cancel some
concerts again, this time because of Dave's voice-problems.
He wasn't well at all, but this turned out much later.
Dave: "Physically, I had some problems. I got sick for a bit and I got
through that. Then I had some other problems with my voice, which I think all
has to do with the fact that I was struggling to try and get my body back together
after being diagnosed with cancer, unfortunately, at the beginning of that tour.
Every time we took a break, I went back to the hospital for some more treatment.[14]
It was the first tour I felt like: 'I can't do this anymore. This is fucking hard.'"
Nevertheless, "I was very lucky. The cancer hadn't spread through the walls of my
bladder so all the chemo was localised. It still made me sick but I didn't lose
all my hair."[15]
Despite all these problems, Martin did enjoy this tour, the first one
he experienced sober completely. "It was difficult as we were on the road and that's
always difficult to avoid drinking. I just got to a point where I knew if I
carried on then I wouldn't be alive for much longer. I was drinking all day -
literally getting up and drinking with breakfast. I'm just thankful some of
the madness missed the age of smartphones. Back in the day when I was drinking
and out of control I would have been all over YouTube." (laughs) "Just for the
fun of it I'd just get naked in hotel bars. Can you imagine doing that now?"[16]
(Oh, I think lots of people would have enjoyed this. ;)) But this time "I'd really
been lucid enough to take in everything and enjoy the concerts and then enjoy
the cities the next day."[17]
From 1 to 17 October they played 9 concerts in Central and South America,
before the second European leg started on 31 October, which comprised 27 concerts
and ended on 18 December
In the meantime, on 7 December, the single Fragile Tension / Hole to
Feed was released. Both songs have been slightly edited and remixed for
the single. Fragile Tension has some new instrumentation and clearer
vocals, while Hole to Feed has been re-arranged and some sections have
been removed. The video for Hole to Feed was directed by Eric Wareheim.
The Fragile Tension video was directed by Rob Chandler and Barney Steel.
References:
[1] Interview Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe, 2009, fnac (Videointerview)
[2] "Depeche Mode Interviewed: Universal Truths And Sounds", The Quietus, 20 April 2009. Words: John Doran
[3] Videointerview 2009 FG5
[4] Songs of faith and commotion, The Guardian, 21 March 2009. Words: Peter Robinson
[5] Article on Sideline, 16 April 2009. Words: Bernard Van Isacker
[6] Depeche Mode in Mature Mode, Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2009. Words: Chris Lee
[7] They just can't get enough: One-time synthesiser sissies Depeche Mode are back on song, Mail Online, 3 April 2009. Words: Adrian Thrills
[8] Depeche Mode in Mature Mode, Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2009. Words: Chris Lee
[9] Songs of faith and commotion, The Guardian, 21 March 2009. Words: Peter Robinson
[10] "Pop Quiz: Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode", sfgate.com, 9 August 2009. Words: Aidin Vaziri
[11] "Six Questions for ... Depeche Mode", Washington Post, 28 July 2009. Words: David Malitz
[12] "Pop Quiz: Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode", sfgate.com, 9 August 2009. Words: Aidin Vaziri
[13] "Interview: Depeche Mode's Andrew Fletcher", bohemian.com, 4 August 2009. Words: David Sason
[14] Depeche Mode Q & A: Dave Gahan Talks 'Delta Machine,' Massive Tour Plans, Billboard.com, New York, 8 March 2013. Words: Jason Lipshutz.
[15] We're dysfunctional. Maybe that's what makes us tick, The Guardian (UK), 28 March 2013. Words: Dorian Lynskey.
[16] Depeche Mode: Brits wouldn't show our set so we said f*** them, The Sun, 22 March 2013. Words: Uncredited.
[17] Depeche Mode, 'pessimists at heart,' never imagined longevity, Reuters, 14 March 2013. Words: Corrie MacLaggan
