"In 2009, DM are unstoppable."

Fletch é citado na biografia do novo álbum, dizendo que este terá uma edição de luxo com cerca de 17 ou 18 faixas no total, demos antigas e do novo álbum.

Depeche Mode belong to a select premier league of supergroups

...a Violator for the 21st century

We’re even doing a deluxe version of the album with about 17 or 18 tracks, including old demos from current and previous albums

EMI slipped the new bio for “Sounds Of The Universe” out to press earlier, and in it is a very interesting quote from Fletch on the content of the deluxe edition of the forthcoming album: Around 17 news songs in total, and demos - both new and old!! Read on for the full thing…

Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe (Mute)

Groundbreaking, chart-topping electronic legends Depeche Mode  return in April 2009 with their most dazzling and diverse album in  decades. Sounds Of The Universe finds Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and  Andy “Fletch” Fletcher back at the top of their game after almost 30  years together. Eclectic and energised, they sound like a band reborn.  With global sales in excess of 100 million, including Number One albums  and dozens of classic singles, Depeche Mode belong to a select  premier league of supergroups - alongside U2, REM and Metallica -  who have survived from the early 1980s with their ideals, their creative  vision and their core members intact. They overcame internal friction  and critical hostility to become one of the most influential bands of the  post-punk era, namechecked by everyone from The Killers, MGMT,  Coldplay, Pet Shop Boys and Marilyn Manson.

Sounds Of The Universe is Depeche Mode’s latest forward-thinking  masterpiece, a Violator for the 21st century. Lyrically, it contains many  of the band’s enduring obsessions - lust, spirituality, romantic yearning,  sinful temptation and sadomasochism - plus more overt black humour  than any of their previous albums.

Musically, Sounds Of The Universe will please fans of every age and  taste. From Dave’s overlord chant on the mighty first single Wrong to  Martin’s velvet-lined Scott Walker croon on the sensual lounge-music  ballad Jezebel, and from the sci-fi gospel-blues hymn In Chains to the  sleazy electronic glam-rock stomp Corrupt, this is a classic Depeche  Mode album.

As they approach their 30th anniversary, Depeche Mode are on a  personal and musical high. Old tensions have been resolved, hatchets  buried and bad habits conquered. Recorded in Santa Barbara and  New York, Sounds Of The Universe was born from positive creative  chemistry, and it really shows.

“It’s a tremendous record, just to blow our own trumpet,” laughs Dave.  “We’ve had the luxury this time of recording a lot more songs than we  really need, all of which have been of great quality.”

“All of us have had a really good time being together,” says Martin.  “The overall atmosphere in the studio has been fantastic. Very few  issues. We were very focussed.”

“The overriding thrust of the album is the number of high quality songs,”  Andy agrees. “Martin’s been writing really prolifically, to a high  standard. We’ve recorded about 20 songs, which is pretty good for  Depeche Mode. We’re even doing a deluxe version of the album with  about 17 or 18 tracks, including old demos from current and previous  albums.”

The album title Sounds Of The Universe has various meanings, from its  spiritual subtext to its retro-futuristic arrangements. “We’ve used a lot of  old analogue synthesisers and drum machines, which conjure up  image of the universe and space travel somehow,” Martin explains.  “We’ve gone back to a lot of old vintage gear, without making the  album sound too retro. It’s like yesterday’s future. That’s why for me it’s  a perfect album title.”

Sounds Of The Universe marks a reunion between Depeche Mode and  Ben Hillier, who previously produced their 2005 album Playing The  Angel. A gifted all-rounder who has worked with full orchestras and  rock bands, Hillier gave the album a timeless sound palette blending  vintage bleeps and beats with contemporary electronic textures.  “We all felt it would be stupid not to work with Ben again,” says Martin.  “He’s just one of those people who puts his mind to something and  becomes instantly professional at it. He’s also quite forceful. That’s  important for us, at this stage of our career, to have someone willing to  stick their neck out and disagree with us.”

Like Playing The Angel, Sounds Of The Universe features writing credits  for both Martin and Dave. After honing his talents on two solo albums,  Dave has earned his place as Depeche Mode’s second songwriter.  “The fact that Dave has started writing songs has done a lot of good  for the band because his confidence is much higher now,” says Andy.  “He feels a lot more attached to the band because of that.”

In fact, Sounds Of The Universe is the closest collaboration yet between  Depeche Mode’s two main songwriters. Martin and Dave share vocals  on several songs and they have even co-written one track on this  record. It felt like “a true partnership”, says Dave. “I think in a blind test  people would find it difficult to tell who wrote which songs,” adds  Martin.

The first single from the album, Wrong grabs the listener’s attention from  its first stack-heeled, staccato shriek. Over stomping beats and  screeching synthesisers, Dave hammers out Martin’s darkly comic  reflections on a lifetime of mistakes, misdeeds and bad decisions.  Instantly addictive, Wrong clearly has a guaranteed future as a skypunching  stadium anthem. It already feels like a Depeche Mode  classic.

“We decided at a fairly early stage that we wanted Wrong to be the  first single, because it’s quite different to anything we’ve released  before,” says Martin. “I don’t know quite what category to put it in  musically, but it’s got a kind of rap feel to it. It’s probably as close to  R&B as we’re ever going to sound.”

For Martin, another album highlight is Peace, with its sublime technogospel  arrangement and cascading choral refrain. It was written back  to back with Footprint, a seductive whirl of warped fairground pop,  which became a kind of nocturnal sister song to Peace.  “Both those songs had a spiritual element to them, and to me that  formed a sort of cornerstone to the album,” Martin explains. “We’ve  had spiritual references on previous records, but I think with this one it’s  a little more obvious.”

Dave’s contributions to Sounds Of The Universe were written with his  regular composing partners, Andrew Philpott and Christian Eigner,  Depeche Mode‘s live drummer. One of their stand-out collaborations is  Come Back, the dirtiest and rowdiest rocker on the album.  “I wanted to take it away from being a straight ballad,” says Dave,  “with a feel beneath it that was kind of My Bloody Valentine or Jesus  and Mary Chain. A big lush sound with this droning wall of noise  underneath. Martin did some fantastic backing vocals for that.”  Another of the singer’s dirty confessionals, Hole To Feed marries modern  electronics to a floor-shaking, bone-rattling Bo Diddley beat. The lyric, a  blend of rock-star swagger and tender yearning, is vintage Dave  Gahan.

“Lyrically, I’m just being my usual cynical self,” Dave laughs. “I’m the  man who has everything but I’m still just poking around in that little hole  that feels empty, wondering what I can fill it with.”  In keeping with tradition, Anton Corbijn again provides the striking  sleeve design and band photos for Sounds Of The Universe. Now an  acclaimed film director with his Joy Division biopic Control, the “Dutch  Master” has been Depeche Mode’s chief visual consultant for over 20  years.

“It was difficult to get him this time,” Andy laughs. “Now he’s won all  these awards as film director it was very hard to tie him down for an  album cover. But yes, Anton’s still involved, he’s very important to  Depeche Mode.”  The band is set to go on a mammoth global jaunt opening on May 10  with 28 stadium concerts across the Middle East and Europe. Further  legs of the tour will include the US and throughout South America. “We  played Mexico on the last tour and it was amazingly successful,” Martin  recalls. “We did two nights in Mexico City to 50,000 people each night.  Knowing how popular we are out there, we’re expecting a similar  reaction this time - we all felt we neglected South America on the last  tour, so we decided to put that right.”

For a band with such a long and successful history, selecting the set list  for the tour is a major task. Around 230 possible Depeche Mode classics  need to be honed into a 20-song concert. “Every time we tour now the  set list becomes a real nightmare,” says Andy. “Because we’re a  democracy, it’s like the Eurovision Song Contest, voting individually for  each song. But it’s not such a bad problem to have.”

Public response to the Tour of the Universe has been phenomenal, with  many European stadium shows selling out almost immediately. “The  touring thing is where it all makes sense for me,” nods Dave. “Once the  fans are there, there’s always that feeling underneath Depeche  Mode’s music of wanting to be part of something, and there are a lot  of people out there who feel the same.”

Ultimately, all three members of Depeche Mode pay tribute to the  loyal army of fans who have supported them for almost 30 years. Their  devotion is what makes forward-thinking albums like Sounds Of The  Universe possible, and their excitement is what makes Depeche Mode  tours such electrifying spectacles.

“We’ve been blessed over the years by our audience,” says Martin.  “We have the craziest, most loyal fans of any band I know. People who  think Depeche Mode are doomy should just come and see one of our concerts and see how the audience react. The shows are just an amazing high, everybody’s there to have a good time.”

In 2009, Depeche Mode are unstoppable. Get ready for the album of the year from the biggest, brightest, best band in the Universe.

Fonte: depeche-mode.com (aka HOME)