UPDATE: Mute/EMI has revealed that the new album is due to hit stores, April 21, 2009 in the U.S.!
Today, Depeche Mode announced that they have a new album due next spring and a world tour to follow after that. Of course, as a huge Depeche Mode fan, I'm really looking forward to this. One thing occurred to me, though as I watched the press conference live on the web: Isn't it a little early to announce a tour starting in May 2009? The band says that the album should be done by the end of the year and the predicted release is April, but I kind of feel that all of this could have been announced once the album was wrapped up in January. That would have been four months prior to the first show and is plenty of time to get the word out and tickets sold. Just an odd move for the band. Also, because of the gap in between the announcement and the start of the tour, there was no announcement of North American dates, as those shows are a little less than a year away. I'm hoping that Depeche Mode doesn't fall into the same trap that U2 fell into with their Pop Mart Tour in 1997, where the tour was all set up and then the band had to rush to finish the album in order for the tour to start on time. Suffice to say that the resulting album, “POP,” is one of U2's least favorably received album and is mostly condemned by the band as a whole; Bono has been known to call it “the world's most expensive demo tape.” So, I'm hoping that Depeche Mode doesn't meet the same fate with their new album.
The good news for Depeche Mode fans is that by lead singer Dave Gahan's own admission, he and Martin Gore have come up with so many songs this time around, the band looks to have a tough time selecting what makes it onto the album. I'm really excited about this news as, usually, Depeche Mode has to strain just to come up with a b-side for every single and not have it be an instrumental track.
As of right now, the album is untitled, but the title of the tour is “Tour of the Universe,” which to me, is pretty lame. I know that in the past, DM has used arrogant titles for their albums (see: Music For The Masses), but this one is just a little out there. It'll be interesting to see what the final title of the album is, as it usually informs the title of the tour. I just hope it's not called “Masters of the Universe,” as I'm not really in the mood for He-Man jokes.
For every Depeche Mode album since 1990's Violator, Anton Corbijn has designed the album artwork, from the photography (naturally) all the way down to the font. All the fans have been able to see so far is the stylized font that Corbijn will be using and the color scheme for the album art. I wasn't too keen on the font, as it looks like something that would be found on an Evanesence album or something similar, but there was a logo that looked like spotlights shining up into the sky, which may be alluding to the stadium tour that the band is undertaking in Europe next summer. Also, the color scheme (orange on, of course, black) reminded me of Black Celebration for some reason. I was really getting that 1986 vibe which is a good thing.
Despite my minor gripes, I'm very happy about the news. Depeche Mode is a band that has been counted out several times in the past and they keep coming back stronger every time out (well, we won't count Exciter). Their last album, Playing The Angel, was a great return to form and with them working with producer Ben Hillier again, I'm looking forward to the results of their second collaboration.
To read more about Depeche Mode, head over to www.depechemode.com and to watch the press conference itself, direct your browsers towards http://www.livenationinternational.com/depechemode/
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