Digital Music — March 15, 2013 at 7:08 am

Stream: Depeche Mode, ‘Soothe My Soul’ — 2nd single from forthcoming ‘Delta Machine’

Depeche Mode, circa 2012

“Soothe My Soul,” the anticipated second single from Depeche Mode’s upcoming album Delta Machine, was given a world-premiere airing this morning in the U.K. on Shaun Keaveny’s show on BBC Radio 6 — and, not surprisingly, DM fans were ready to record the track. You can hear it below via one of several different available radio rips that immediately hit the web.

The heavily electronic track is much more upbeat than moody lead-off single “Heaven,” which arrived in late January. Depeche Mode’s new album is due to be released March 26.

 

 

 

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

 

 

46 Comments

  1. *gigantic sigh* PEDANTIC at best.

  2. I realize that it’s not their best track ever, but I do enjoy it. I was hoping that “Should Be Higher” would be the next single, but I do like this one with it’s blues-inspired melody. I’m pretty psyched for “Delta Machine.”

  3. A step in the right direction. Perhaps a remix will liven it up more, like the Owlle remix of Heaven.

  4. I like it.

  5. Batshiz Crazay

    It’s ok. Not mindblowingly good but ok. If i were a billionaire, i’d commission them to write a Music For the Masses II. And to quit sounding like old farts.

  6. A mess… Where’s the Violator/SOFAD reminiscence? These albums just keep proving that there’ll be no DM sound without A.Wilder.

  7. Rockn’roll gone wrong… Should be Higher seems like the winner here… bad choice for single.

  8. What I find so interesting is that so many old time Depeche Mode fans keep apologizing for this by giving it the time of day (on the net). I still believe in Depeche Mode – I will ‘not’ be buying the two singles but I have ordered the album in all three formats. Without Alan Wilder Depeche Mode should call it quits and just produce solo material. All this hype for so very little…

    I still hold out for hope of a few great tracks but if anyone knows The Knife or Fever Ray, this is a blatant copy of their music by the same producer which just shows how little a band is unto themselves.

    This is bad pseudo-rock music. We LOVE depeche Mode around here – I have the one of the largest DM libraries imaginable… but this stinks. The only thing that I can say that holds it together is Martin at times.

    Alan may well yet one day decide to take a stab at it again but even if he does they’ve left such a mess to clean up.

    It’s quite clear that even Depeche Mode (current members) do not really know what they created with Alan in Violator and SOFAD to draw any comparisons whatsoever. A shame.

    Matthew

    • Bravo!

    • You blindly pre-ordered an album in THREE formats from a band that “should call it quits”? Your money is telling DM “keep going, you’re doing great!”

    • Matthew, I understand what you are saying – and I understand that this song isn’t nearly as good as “Enjoy the Silence” or “In Your Room” or any of the older “classic” mode tracks that we all love.

      But I wonder if, even if Alan Wilder were still around, would they sound like this? The music would probably have more levels to it – more layers of sounds – and be a little richer, but the melody lines might still be what they are and the mood might still be what it is.

      I always forget until I force myself to remember how many years have passed since “Black Celebration” and “Violator” – those classic albums that define the “Depeche Mode sound.” Martin has grown/matured/changed as a songwriter and this quite possibly is what he would be writing regardless of who was still in the band.

      I have always thought that the music they make now is the music that flows out of them, that they naturally compose, and if they did record something that sounded like another “Violator” or “Masses” it would mean that they forced they current sensibilities to fit the mold of their past work.

      Do you truly take no enjoyment or pleasure from their most recent work? Even though “Exciter” is probably my least favorite of their albums, I still love a handful of songs on it, most notably “Shine.” At my age and in the current musical environment, I am always thankful for the bright spots on the albums of my old, favorite bands.

      New music from heroes of my youth is always a reason to celebrate for me. I hope that when you get your hands on the full CD you take some pleasure from it! I would hate for someone who loves this band as much as you obviously do to feel so completely let down by them.

  9. you know, I was listening to it… and then I walked out of my room to grab some cookies.

  10. I was just thinking, while listening to this, how there are so many bands out right now that sound like Depeche Mode, meaning that they incorporate things that I loved about Depeche Mode up through Violator. Funny thing is, I wouldn’t include present day Depeche Mode in that group of bands.

  11. This is definitely a couple of steps up above ‘Heaven’, but still not quite the Violator/SOFAD type sound they said it would be.

    I’m gonna have to hear some more tracks, it’s not grabbing me like ‘Wrong’ or ‘Dream On’.

    It would be really cool if they consulted with Alan on some tracks. He seemed to be the creator of the definitive “Depeche Sound”.

    • Aaron, that is a great way of putting it “it’s a couple of steps above ‘Heaven'”. Does anyone know why Alan is not giving DM another go at it? His Recoil project seems over. I am not sure if it’s Alan that does want to do it or if DM is not not wanting him to do it. It would be great to have him back in.

      • Probably it’s a money and pride thing. It’s also been 20 years since they have worked together – that’s a long long time. Where do you begin?

  12. dave stripped

    Absolutely perfect’

  13. Like! Why wasn’t this the lead single?
    I hear echos of “Personal Jesus”.

  14. It’s ok…but I think the Hit Machine has completely dried up. Sounds like John the Revelator II. Let’s face it, us fans are excited when a new DM album comes out because they always tour to support it and they are still one of the best live bands around. Seriously, I’ll still be singing loudly “the grabbing hands, grab all they can!”.

  15. Linnen,

    Of course, there are bright spots across all of the post-wilder DM albums and I will never right them off completely. As I said, I love DM, what they represent and who they are. The huge problem is that these guys were barely ever involved with the production of Depeche Mode as they were before Ultra. And as a side note, I think Ultra is one of their best from a song-writing perspective and could have been an ‘immense’ album had production gone a bit further. Exciter, a disaster, and yes Shine, shines… Playing the Angel has ‘many moments’ but its so gloomy and flat in its sound. It’s mechanical whereas Depeche Mode is like clockwork ‘not’ mechanical. If this iteration of Depeche Mode were aware of their best works then they could not in good conscious release a track like Heaven to the world. Not the song itself, the sound of the song, the plodding framework of the groove – is that a groove!? :) Soothe My Soul is a Dave solo track that does not carry the weight of a Martin L. Gore cut. It’s just weak with the odd moment of interest. But if a fan is leaving the room to eat cookies, then…..

    The problem is Dave and the problem is Martin and their obvious choice in producers. There is Dave fighting for what he thinks works and Martin who is plain and simple a fantastic song-writer who doesn’t care for production. Then place Alan in the mix (case in point) In Chains Remix… and he completely refocuses the material, strengthens it and then nourishes it. His approach to making music a ‘complete’ focus on what the track represents and needs to make it its very best.

    As I said, like the other post-Alan records we will definitely have some high-lights but this is a band that keeps re-hashing the same material and sound of the material on their live gigs and the people keep eating it up really which is the shocking part. The band represents something so special that I guess this makes a lot of sense but for fans to keep flocking back to the same old arrangements every three to four years is hard for me to commit to and is hardly a compelling reason why I should follow suit. Bad videos, patchy albums, bad live singing (overly melodramatic!!) – that which was poised is now all of the map.

    Of course, this all sounds quite negative. It’s not. I’m glad they are still together, this keeps the flame alive that perhaps Alan will find a way to make some music again with them in the future. But, Depeche Mode was quartet, they are now a producer and two song-writers. Perhaps one day Martin will produce and acoustic album which will clean up a lot of this mess. Strip it back and make the songs interesting in their most simple elements.

    Dave is trying to find himself and we are forced along the journey of his lessons in trying to make music for himself – but he doesn’t – he relies on a producer. That’s great for Dave but not great for Depeche Mode. He used to sing and he was edited and directed by incredible music and talent, this editing and focus is what made Depeche Mode records compelling and artistic.

    My wife loves Depeche Mode and she sees things very simply. She’s not as adoring as I am but when she hears a song that is plodding, hurts her head or is to damn simplistic and empty emotionally she just switches off…. she can’t connect whatsoever with Heaven or Soothe My Soul but of course, we both instantly connected (Dave’s performance aside) with Should Be Higher.

    And the remixes….. don’t get me started ! ! ! :)

    Anyway, not all negative but quite truly realistic in that Depeche Mode is lost somewhere out in the sea and this is a covers band that look very much like the originals but sound…..

    Matthew

    • Christopher

      “soothe” is a martin track…in fact, of the songs released/played, dave’s songs (w/his new writing partner) are the winners, esp. from a “sounds like the Mode” factor (“should be higher”/”all that’s mine”)

    • y’know Matthew, you’re right on the ball!
      And speaking of their videos, there hasn’t been a promo since Ultra that I liked, other than Suffer Well and Martyr.

  16. Listening again to this – Does anyone wonder why the hell he sings like this now?? Does he think he’s an English Elvis now? This an’t soothing my soul – Dave it’s camp and it hurting my soul.

  17. Snippets from whole album – this is showing a more promising whole.

    http://m.soundcloud.com/shifterxx/depeche-mode-delta-machine-not

  18. Stope your whining!

    This is a great DM song.
    What other band (besides The Cure) have consistently put out great music for as long as DM?
    Get over the idea of Alan Wilder ever returning, Recoil is an interesting project but DM have been putting out better work.
    I don’t get all the hate, if you want Violator or SOF&D, then listen to those albums.
    Enjoy this for what it is, a band in its twilight years, still putting out great music.

  19. Oops I meant stop, not stope!

  20. Alan, Alan, Alan blah blah blah….erm he’s fucking gone, get over it.

    This is vintage Mode.

  21. This is not vintage mode Paul – most of it is extremely weak speckled with a few highlights and good moments. I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of any mode album, just something of quality and consistency. Dave’s voice is all over the map, its raw in the wrong sense of the term. There’s nothing ‘classic’ about this DM track nor in Heaven. Alan Wilder is a master and his work may not reach the millions but it will be looked upon as genius from his DM years into his Recoil years. And from a business perspective, never rule out Alan doing something special with DM again… never say never.

  22. If Depeche Mode had chosen to work out their own musical production on their own with the ‘aid’ of a technical person such as Flood, I would admire what they have done. But this is not the case. They have given up their sound to others… This is why they will never sound like they did from the onset of their career. Their’s was a graduated plan that kept improving and morphing but always keeping the fundamental elements that made the DM sound from a track construction point of view. They have since lost all of this and completely ignored their fan base by continuing to use producers who have no idea about the DM sound which makes one wonder if the remaining members have any idea what the the DM sound is as well? Exciter, a disaster. Ultra, wonderful warmth and song writing at its best with consistency but a watered down production, ugh. One of their best though. They don’t even play these songs live ‘Freestate’???? – a beautiful track for the live arena. Sounds of the Universe, lost to bad programming and not enough time actually working out the best ‘sounds of the universe’… case in point: Fragile Tension (completely unfinished and released on an album!!!), too bad, a nice set of songs though in my opinion. Playing the Angel… too dour, too mechanical and hard edged – plods. PTA really has some fantastic tracks sucked away by bad production. They didn’t even play the piano themselves on The Darkest Star, which is a wonderful highlight from Depeche Mode’s career, as is Barrel Of a Gun… all without Wilder. The problem is that these albums won’t stand the test of time, have sold very little and they now rely on re-hashing bad renditions of their old favorites in the live arena in bad form with relentless yelling (is this singing, elvis-style) by Dave???! Martin really isn’t focused enough to put the time necessary for his own album it appears which is such a shame because he’s the talented one and he writes phenomenal songs. And Dave really can’t be Dave without Depeche Mode, again, how much Elvis can you have in this day and age??!, the problem is he is trying to turn Depeche Mode into something it isn’t and if Dave and Martin disagree Depeche Mode will be dead in the water. That’s why Alan cast such a huge shadow on this band, he networked them all together and then hand-stiched the most fantastic sounds that can not be found anywhere else into Martin’s tracks – he then wove an entirely new fabric from a poorly wrought track (Walking In My Shoes!!!!) Have you heard the demo of Walking In My Shoes????!

    Case in point : Any DM with Wilder non-single from any album will blow away any post-Wilder singles with DM now : Nothing, The Things You Said, Sacred, Rush, It Doesn’t Matter Too, Fly On The Windscreen, Halo – – – – the list goes on and on, just fill in the blanks. Imagine if they released Nothing as a single today? Heaven would sound like a covers band did it.

    They suck without Wilder at the helm and I WANT to LOVE Depeche Mode. This is a fantastic group of people who all bring fantastic parts to the table, but this DM is trying to keep something going that to me is obviously not really possible without all of them. All of them doing what they do best and not trying to push the boundaries of their own contribution. Case in Point : Dave Gahan. He needs to pull back, allow himself to be edited by a fantastic producer and work on the music to bring it to its very best state.

    This is my very long two-cents… I’ve also ordered the new album.

    Derek

    • “Case in point : Any DM with Wilder non-single from any album will blow away any post-Wilder singles with DM now : Nothing, The Things You Said, Sacred, Rush, It Doesn’t Matter Too, Fly On The Windscreen, Halo”

      Agreed, and why don’t they play any of these songs? Sure, they played ‘Halo’ in 2001, and ‘Fly on the Windscreen’ last tour.. but ‘Nothing’, ‘Sacred’, ‘Things You Said’ haven’t been played in 25 years… ‘Rush’.. I mean great song, but hasn’t been played in 20 years…

      Yet, they chose to play crap like ‘Barrel of a Gun’ and ‘Only When I lose Myself’ this week? Those are big WTF to me!

      DM has such a diverse catalouge, yet every tour it’s basically the same old shit. The only time the go outside the singles is with ‘Violator’ songs.

    • Wilder was involved in production more than the others, yes, but the Music for the Masses demos, for example, were not much different from the finished product. If the songwriting is not there, production can only do so much…And the last couple Recoil albums actually sounded dated.

  23. Song is garbage. Boring, repetitive music, lyrics are a joke. Chorus is awful…

    It’s over for Depeche Mode as a recording artist.

    Setlist from last night:

    Angel
    Should Be Higher
    Walking in My Shoes
    Barrel of a Gun
    Heaven
    Only When I Lose Myself
    (First time since 1998)
    Personal Jesus
    Soft Touch/Raw Nerve
    Soothe My Soul
    Enjoy the Silence

    Nothing earlier than ‘Violator’… ‘Only When I Lose Myself’???? Really?? Come on guys.

    Looks like we’re getting another boring setlist of the same greatest hits and a few new songs. DM won’t be getting my money for that again.

  24. Listen up losers… I’m tired of so called fans complaining about how DM ended when wilder left….that was almost 20 years ago… Please, your arguments are null and void. DM have been making music, and great music in that time. This is a very good song. I know the lads in the band said to expect Violator and SOFAD sounds, be realistic… It’s marketing… If you don’t like DM without AW why are you even here? Time
    To move on people, and let the true fans rejoice and enjoy the music. The rest of you can live in the past, and enjoy the silence….

    Peace

    • DM didn’t ‘end’ when Wilder left, but they got worse and didn’t produce albums at the same quality as the 1983 – 1993 era.

      Ultra, had its moments, but was a step down.

      Exciter, was garbage.

      PTA, was decent, has some great songs.

      SOTU, was garbage.

      DM, sounds like crap to me so far.

      So, yes DM didn’t end after Wilder left, but 1/5 albums being decent isn’t a great track record.

      They are also cowards live; they never play anything but the same old hits every tour (unless MG decides to do something different), with very very few exceptions (Photographic being the most ‘rare’ thing they’ve played in 20 years).

      Sorry, DM post-Wilder are a fail.

  25. I think a true fan is one who wants the best from their favorite band/artist…. it may sound rude and it’s not meant to be, but I think those who are not liking a lot of the new DM music are actually and intently ‘listening’ to it and ‘paying attention’ when they watch them play live and when the repeat, repeat and repeat the same old song list and release poorly produced material. I think those who are whining are not simply whining for Alan Wilder, they are crying out for some consistency and quality from an act that they love through and through. We fed DM, they are eating with the money that we paid them and now they release music without a care for the people who got them to where they are today. Quite rude to suggest that people who want more are losers really. Watching Dave look like he’s doing very bad Elvis impressions and literally destroying the good name of Depeche Mode is altogether a painful thing to watch when you know that these guys are capable of radially more.

    Matthew

  26. I think part of the problem with all these bands is the time in-between albums. From 1981 – 1993 (12 years) DM put out 8 studio albums. From 1993 – 2013 (20 years) DM put out 5 studio albums – none of which matched the quality of the earlier period.

    • Really? *None* of the albums they put out between 1993-2013 matched, say, A Broken Frame or Construction Time Again? God, if I were Martin or Dave it would just make me roll my eyes to hear something like that. DM’s sound has moved on and matured significantly since 1983, and if that’s the direction you’re expecting them to go at this point in their careers you’re going to find yourself consistently disappointed. Meanwhile, I find SOFAD, Ultra and Playing the Angel among the strongest albums they’ve ever released.

      • A Broken Frame and Construction Time Again were great albums for their time (1982, 1983). Sorry, but everything since SOFAD has been crap, with the exception of a few songs on PTA.

        Yes, if those two albums were released now people would not consider them ‘great’, but in 1983 songs like ‘Told You So’, ‘More Than A Party’, ‘Everything Counts’ were awesome. Even in 1982 stuff like ‘See You’, ‘Leave in Silence’, ‘Sun & the Rainfall’…just great song.

        And frankly I would rather see anything off those two albums played live than anything I’ve heard so far off Delta Machine.

  27. Is this track the next Personal Jesus? Well, no. But as someone who liked about half of Playing the Angel and found Sounds of the Universe to be pretty much a load of bullocks, this is a huge step in the right direction. I find myself liking it quite a bit. As with anything new from DM, it’s going to take some time to settle into their catalog and “sound” like them. And, of course, there will always be those who will never think DM will equal their sonic output from the Alan Wilder years.

    Looks, SOFAD and Ultra are my two favorite DM albums, so you can tell where I stand. But to my ears, Soothe My Soul is a pretty darn good stomper of a track. I get that not everyone will like it, but compared with much of what appeared on their last album, this is many, many times better, and along with Angel gives me a lot of hope for the new album.

  28. A big issue with Depeche Mode is the setlists every time I see them it’s the same songs over and over again.

  29. I still don’t get how people can say, after 20 years, this band is terrible or has taken a step back since Alan left. 20 YEARS PEOPLE…. why are you still here worrying about a band you think is rubbish? You should’ve joined Alan 20 YEARS AGO and left the band too….

    Is it because you are now older, not in the 80’s (or 90’s) and you can no longer get into clubs and dance anymore?

    Listen, the band grew up, and I think it’s time you haters did too. Alan left 20 YEARS AGO…

    I will agree with one thing though, and I may be able to shed some light on it. I do agree the recent setlists have been mundane… same stuff. Possibly because of the live drums? Christian may not have other songs down yet, and these are the ones he is good at?

    I will say, that I’m not a fan of live drums… bring back the backing tape!

    (yes yes, I can hear it now… backing tapes left the band 20 YEARS AGO… etc etc..)

  30. Listening to a crappy Mp3 of the album right now… it’s their most moody and interesting album in years. Production is dry sounding which makes everything sound like its all ‘parts’ things don’t blend smoothly. Flood’s final Angel properly mixes Dave’s singing into the fabric of the music so he doesn’t sound like he’s yelling. Lots of highlights here, but for me they are not Heaven, Angel or Soothe My Soul. The songs don’t EXPAND sonically enough but there are so many influences from their past albums (Speak and Spell and Music For The Masses. And, something entirely new. This is NOT Violator or SOFAD in any way. It’s actually doing something new musically and I’m enjoying it so far. Just why Dave decides to mess up his singing when doing this stuff live is beyond comprehension!? At least he’s kept in check on the album. Martin is the core song-writer, even if Dave’s material is getting better, there is something so much more mature and tenured in MLG’s writing…. Welcome To My World and Secret To The End as case in point. Alan would do wild things to these songs ! They are far better than the previous couple of albums but odd and weird. ‘Slow’ sounds like something Martin should be singing but it’s nevertheless interesting to hear Dave do it and he does it in a 60’s kind of interesting way which makes it worthwhile. Again, they focused on the songs here in an interesting way since the production is there but it is stripped back and this is what makes this album better than the past few poorly and somewhat overly produced (in a bad way) attempts. If you can’t have Alan Wilder – strip it back ! And this works. Dave’s ‘Broken’ also completely falls into place with Martin’s work in a way that is quite shocking actually. His words work and make sense. His singing understated here as well. Congrats Dave ! When Martin comes in it takes it higher yet again… they ‘ve come back on this album folks. Wow! ‘Slow’ is very much a Martin Song with Dave singing and a classic. ‘The Child Inside’ is simply beautiful and dark – sung by Martin. Soft Touch / Raw Nerve suffers from no bass and a repetitive pulse but its in line with the quality of the new writing style… it’s a bit like A Question Of Time, but it’s a weaker portion of the production here. Should be Higher is great, it’s like a new band has taken the stage here, Dave can sing, even better than was ever thought. I am being brought back to early early Depeche Mode before Music For The Masses with album and then transported into the future to a new place surpassing Violator and SOFAD, in a new and different way – not better, just new, which is the most compelling discovery here. They have finally come into their own. I just wish they could have offered a better set of singles and been bold enough to let people here the deeper work as the singles. I don’t like Heaven nor Angel.. these are the weaker component to this brilliant and soulful record. Alone is great! Soothe My Soul does not belong on the album in my humble opinions and Goodbye is completely different which makes it perfect in the mix.

    In the end, I will repeat, this Depeche Mode without Alan does not have its finger on the pulse. They have written fantastic songs and produced a fantastic album that works without Alan Wilder in so many ways. But, they should have omitted Heaven, Angel and Soothe My Soul – I will be probably editing those out of my playback machine. Martin and Dave are fantastic song-writers and are definitely soul-brothers. I’m proud to say that I am a Depeche Mode fan after listening to this. Now back to ‘Welcome To My World – utterly fantastic !!!

    Matthew

  31. Too many haters and not enough love for one of the best bands ever. Realize they are producing new songs, not the same great songs that made them who they are.

    Do any of you haters know how difficult that is?? Shut up, enjoy, and stop whining!!! Would you rather say, “I wish DM would make another album…” or “I wish DM would get together”???

    Hey they just made one and so far so good!!

  32. Not sure that it’s hate. That is a strong word here. It’s fair to say that many DM fans were let down since Alan left. I personally, very let down with Alan for leaving and not caring enough for the fan base and more so for himself. Also, let down that Depeche Mode was placed in the hands of technicians and producers who obviously had no clue how to handle their work., i.e.., Exciter and others… But, as you say this new record Delta Machine, with its flaws (Heaven, Soothe My Soul and Angel) is a stand alone album that blows past all of this and to me is an exception piece of work. It’s written in a manner of Martin and Dave totally connecting both in songwriting and musically with a musical director who obviously cares enough to flesh out these songs and give the fans a proper album that is expansive, moody, reflective and just downright heartwarming, sad and beautiful. Thank God for Depeche Mode. This is music for the world or those best few folks who inhabit it. :)

    Matthew

  33. Sadly, if DM think this is close to Violator, then you know where the problem lies. Their albums are too soft and mellow where albums like Violator had so much feel. They just got lazy, no sampling, no unique sounds and seriously, drop the blues. If Dave wants to do a blues band, go do it as a side project. Better than the last album but still way off.

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