A household name in electronic and industrial music, Britain’s Depeche Mode has returned with a new album titled Spirit. The album was released March 17 and goes through a set of 14 electronic and vocally charged tracks.
In February, Richard Spencer, a pioneering member of the nationalist “alt-right” movement, proclaimed Depeche Mode as the official band of the alt-right. The band denounced the claim immediately after, with member Dave Gahan calling Spencer a funny four-letter word in an interview with Billboard earlier this month.
This is important to mention because Spirit deals with a realistic theme of social and political negativity that makes Spencer’s comments seem hilariously ironic. Although the band told USA Today that the album isn’t centered on a political compass, the project was inspired by current global events. The lyrics in Spirit make this idea clear right off the bat.
Spirit opens up with two tracks titled “Going Backwards” and “Where’s the Revolution.” The first focuses on humanity’s progress taking a turn for the worst: “We’re going backwards/Armed with new technology/Going backwards/To a cavemen mentality.”
The track serves as a reminder of a human disconnect that continues to grow instead of shrink. The second track takes this reminder and transforms it into a call to action.
“Where’s the/revolution?/Come on, people/You’re letting me down.” Political lyrics like give the whole album an almost pessimistic vibe that are paired with instrumentation just as dark.
The ambience of Spirit is dark, industrial and patient. Especially during the first part of the album, the songs march along at a slow pace with machine-like synths placed intermittently to fill in space. The result is a wide and gritty atmosphere that makes me feel almost too depressed to start the revolution the lyrics call for. That pretty much continues for the whole album. Although there are a few alternative mixes thrown into the end, they add almost nothing new.
After finishing Spirit and realizing that I’m just a cog in the machine of a misguided government, I couldn’t help but feel bored and depressed. Spirit includes the industrial, atmospheric sound that Depeche Mode has made a staple, but it does not work well with the negativity invoked by the preachy lyrics. The album is musically sound; the vocals are tight and the synths are experimental and edgy, but the tracks require a grandma-like patience and the self-awareness of an anarchist to thoroughly enjoy.
Spirit gets a 6 out of 10.
Contact CU Independent Arts Writer Alvaro Sanchez at Alvaro.Sanchez@colorado.edu.
