When you’re as big as Depeche Mode, plans for a new album alone are enough to throw the blogging world into chaos. So when the legendary English outfit announced plans for its long-awaited twelfth studio album in October, we really didn’t mind that their weren’t much actual details. Sure, we got a release date, April 20/21, 2009 via Mute Records, and even a few European tour dates. But as it related to the actual album itself (ie., tracklist, sound, instrumentation, etc.), well, let’s just say Depeche left a lot out.

We can’t really blame them though. After all, at the time of the press conference, the currently untitled album hadn’t been completed. How do we do? As the band revealed in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, it was only finished just recently:

“We’ve completed the record,” the band’s frontman, Dave Gahan, told Pop & Hiss on Thursday via phone from New York. “There might be a couple of bits and pieces we’ve got to clean up, but I feel really good about the fact that we’re finished,” he continued. “I think we’ve made a great record.”

So now that the followup to 2005’s Playing the Angel is in fact done, what can we expect to hear come April?

Well, when you’re using words like “natural” and “spiritual” to describe a record, one would generally expect something reminiscent of Aretha Franklin. Au contraire, Gahan notes, “if anyone’s thinking that the record will have a Gospel feel, it couldn’t be further from that…I feel like [the record] is [about] looking outside and a yearning for somehow coming together.” You know, in that Barack Obama, message of hope kind of way, “watching Obama getting elected was great. We watched it on TV in Santa Barbara and I get goosebumps thinking about that still. It’s going to take a long time, but I think some of that same feeling, that sentiment [of hope] is in the work,” he went on to explain.

It appears this idea of togetherness will also affect the album’s style as the band will look to combine the old with the new…

And though the band is increasingly fond of using guitars, the new disc may see a return to the Depeche Mode’s original analog synth roots — at least on a few tracks.

“Martin’s got this new fetish which is basically buying gear on EBay,” Gahan said. “He must have bought up half of the analog equipment around the world. We’ve got all these old drum machines from the 1970s, and even some of the stuff that we used in the ’80s as well, like old Moogs and Arps.”

As an example, Gahan noted that one of the new album’s stars is a piece of gear dubbed “The Colonel” - a vintage 1970s-era Steiner Parker synthesizer. It’s an instrument, said Gahan, “that makes crazy noises. We found it really inspiring and used it in a lot of things [on the new record].”

…a similar sentiment to what was expressed in an interview with Rolling Stone last month, in which fellow Depeche Mode member Martin Gore described the album as “vintage,” “the sounds we are making are more akin to stuff we did in the late 1980s, around Violator.”

So in summary, expect some funky, guitar-heavy electrified beats in a natural, vintage sound. Make sense? Yeah, we’re a bit confused too. But between the clip of “Wrong” and “Peace”, two tracks expected to appear on the upcoming effort, and the band’s planned worldwide trek in 2009, we’lll have plenty of pieces to help put everything together.

Speaking of tour, Depeche Mode will announce dates for the U.S. portion of its “Tour of the Universe” in the coming weeks.

“Wrong” & “Peace” (Clips)

Depeche Mode 2009 Tour Dates:
05/10 - Ramat, Tel Aviv @ Gan Stadium
05/12 - Athens, Greece @ Terra Vibe Park
05/14 - Istanbul, Turkey @ Santral Instanbul
05/16 - Bucharest, Romania @ Parc Izvor
05/18 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Tuborg Greenfest
05/20 - Belgrade, Serbia @ Tuborg Greenfest
05/21 - Zagred, Crotia Tuborg Greenfest
05/23 - Warsaw, Poland @ Gwardia Stadium
05/25 - Riga, Latvia @ Skonto Stadium
05/27 - Vinius, Lithuania @ Zalgirio Stadinoas
05/30 - London, UK @ O2 Arena
06/02 - Hamburg, Germany @ HSH Nordbank Arena
06/04 - Dusseldorf, Germany @ LTU Arena
06/07 - Leipzig, Germany @ Zentralstadion
06/10 - Berlin, Germany @ Olympiastadion
06/12 - Frankfurt, Germany @ Commerzbank Arena
06/13 - Munich, Germany @ Olympiastadion
06/16 - Rome, Italy @ Stadio Olimpico
06/18 - Milan, Italy @ Stadio San Siro
06/20 - Werchester, Belgium @ TW Classic Festival
06/22 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Inter Stadium
06/23 - Budapest, Hungary @ Puskas Ferenc Stadium
06/25 - Prague, Czech Republic @ Slavia Stadium
06/27 - Paris, France @ TBA
06/30 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Parken Stadium
07/02 - Bergen, Norway @ Koengen
07/02 - Arvika, Sweeden @ Arvika Festival
07/11 - Libson, Portugal @ Super Bock Super Rock Festival

Categories: News, Tour
Tags: Depeche Mode