Depeche Mode held a news conference in Paris today to announce the European leg of its 2013 world tour — the dates mirroring those that leaked yesterday — and tease fans with a preview of a track from the band’s as-yet-untitled album, which Martin Gore characterized as a cross between Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion.
The album is expected sometime next spring, although DM’s members — Gore, Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher — wouldn’t get specific as to release dates or even when fans might hear a first single. Prior to the start of the press conference (which you can watch above, in full), the band played a short film soundtracked by a new song, which Fletcher later said was still untitled.
Check out Depeche Mode’s new song.
According to Gore, the band just finished recording sessions last Friday for the album, its 13th overall and first since 2009’s Sounds of the Universe.
“It’s got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on other songs,” Gore said. “It’s a bit of a hybrid of those two for me.”
Gahan said the band has recorded about 20 songs for use on the album and as B-sides, and must now settle on a running order. Of those, Gore said Gahan wrote “five and a half lyrics.”
“I am very happy with the new album and I think there are at least three or four songs that are up there with the very best that we’ve done,” Gore said.
Gahan added: “I definitely feel the most excited about one or two in particular, where, you know, occasionally that happens where you really feel moved by a song and no matter how many times you sing it or try to perform it, there are certain songs that do that.”
See photos from today’s press conference.
The trio took questions from journalists and fans, both at the venue and via video, but did not offer much hard detail on the new album or tour, which is in its initial design stages with Anton Corbijn.
As for the tour dates, the trek opens May 7 in Tel Aviv, and includes stadium, arena and festival dates, wrapping up July 29 in Minsk, Belarus (see full dates below). Fletcher made reference to the band today announcing both the European and American legs of the tour, but no U.S. dates have yet been announced for DM’s 2013 run.
Depeche Mode tour dates:
May 7: Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel
May 10: Terra Vibe, Athens, Greece
May 12: Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria
May 15: National Stadium, Bucharest, Romania
May 17: Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, Turkey
May 19: Usce Park, Belgrade, Serbia
May 21: Puskas Ferenc Stadium, Budapest, Hungary
May 23: Hippodrome, Zagreb, Republic of Croatia
May 25: Inter Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia
May 28: O2 Arena, London, England
June 1: Olympic Stadium, Munich, Germany
June 3: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart, Germany
June 5: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, Germany
June 7: Stade De Suisse, Berne, Switzerland
June 9: Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany
June 11: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany
June 13: Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
June 15: Stade De France, Paris, France
June 17: Imtech Arena, Hamburg, Germany
June 22: Locomotive Stadium, Moscow, Russia
June 24: SKK Arena, St. Petersburg, Russia
June 27: Peace & Love Festival, Borlange, Sweden
June 29: Olympic Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
July 3: Esprit Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany
July 7: Rock Werchter Festival, Werchter, Belgium
July 11: BBK Festival, Bilbao, Spain
July 13: Optimus Alive Festival, Lisbon, Portugal
July 16: Antic Arina, Nimes, France
July 18: San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy
July 20: Olympic Stadium, Rome, Italy
July 23: Olympic Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic
July 25: National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland
July 27: Vingis Park, Vilnius, Lithuania
July 29: Minsk Arena, Minsk, Belarus
Photos courtesy of @Ultra_Depeche
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Fletch looks just as uncomfortable sitting in a chair onstage as he does behind a keyboard.
Songs Of Faith And Devotion being my least favorite album by them I’m a little bit afraid of what the results will be. The new song they released sounds like a b-side to I Feel You, quite possibly their worst song ever.
Agree. Hope it’s more Violator than Song of Faith
LMAO ! When a band starts saying their new record is a hybrid of their two most popular records; you know it’s over, lol.
That new song doesn’t resemble Violator in any way shape or form, and the only link it has to SOFAD is ‘Condemnation’ which is a awful song like this one.
The music on this song is the same crap they did on SOTU, the ambient noize nonsense.
This band desperately needs Alan Wilder back.
Ridiculous comments on here!! The song writing sounds like it is still
progressing and maturing and the instrumentation is as relevant as ever.
It sounds nothing like SOTU. Mix wise and production wise it’s definitely
closer to Violator. That comment is getting blown out of all proportion
anyway and misses the point. Get over it, Alan left 17 years ago an isn’t
coming back. Stay in the 80’s/90’s and let the rest of us enjoy what they
are doing.
Thank you Rick. I couldn’t agree more on your comment. The production of this untitled song surely sounds much better than the ones on SOTU.
Another Depeche Mode tour will they will play the same hits over and over again, with no rare album tracks or bsides.
Some very irritating comments here from you so-called fans.
First of all, i happen to think that Songs Of Faith & Devotion is their finest album, with Condemnation being one of its many highlights. Its beyond me how anyone can call themselves a Depeche Mode fan and not like that album.
Secondly, the new track isnt great, its ok imo, but its just a taster, a b-side quality taster to keep the fans happy on the day of the conference, that was all. The serious quality material will appear next year.
Thirdly and lastly, i’m sick of reading stupid comments in regards to the bands set lists, if you would all actually pay attention you would realise that over the last few tours, the band have actually played a few rare tracks such as Surrender, Sister Of Night, Insight and It Doesnt Matter Too.
I agree 100%. I can’t understand how someone could dislike Songs of Faith. It was an incredible album
If you want Depeche Mode to play nothing but gloomy album tracks and b-sides for over 3 hours and bore 50 percent of the audience to death, sorry, but they’re much better than that, your better off seeing Blobert Smith & The Cure. The Mode pride themselves on putting on a “show”, a few new songs, a few hits and a few album tracks thrown in, thank you, goodnight.
The new untitled track sounds vocally rushed and hurried. The sound is awful. I am a massive Depeche Mode fan. They are weak without Alan in every respect and they will continue to be unless they strip it back and keep it as raw as possible from a production standpoint. Nothing they do now I fear will ever compare to what they are really known for. If anyone out here does not see that Dave has utterly lost the plot!?!? I can’t understand it. He has no quality control whatsoever and seems to run his own show vocally. This is not condemnation in any way… it’s all over the place. Even lyrically during the verse it all doesn’t at all add up with the chorus which is somewhat nice. It’s a mess. I am still hoping for some good tracks but let’s face it Depeche Mode is not Depeche Mode – it’s a bunch of other people in the studio hacking it together! I LOVE DEPECHE MODE – let’s get real and look at what it really is though. Martin should go solo Dave can keep firing off hits and misses and pretend he is some kind of rock star. His singing fell apart live, his eye make up makes him look old and haggard. They’ve simply lost the ‘continuity’ that Alan brought to the unit which was cohesion and focus and a honed sound. To say that any fan who loved the old albums is stuck in the past is correct. Depeche Mode fell apart and they struggle to keep it to form without any thought to what that form really is. This isn’t about repeating old work – it’s about producing quality work. Fragile Tension as a perfect example was an almost decent song that actually sounds as bad as an incomplete demo production wise – that actually was an album release!?! There is no care and thought put into the work anymore. That they could even unleash a song like the new one on their audience is quite frankly disturbing. That all these people want to see them live when the singing is so poor I don’t understand it. A bunch of grown men jumping around like they are still young bucks to a broken version of an otherwise great track. I want to believe but seeing is believing where Depeche Mode are concerned. Meanwhile Alan Wilder holds us all hostage but not showing any interest in reformation and the other members for that matter….
Love and light. ;)
Matthew
It wont be on the bloody album, its b-side quality material, stop fretting over it, this album will be great.
Matthew
Martin should go solo so Dave can keep firing off hits and misses and pretend he is some kind of rock star. His singing fell apart live, his eye make up makes him look old and haggard.
OK first of all, Martin Gore is useless as a solo artist, he needs to work in the confines of a group, so forget that.
As for Dave, well, he IS a rock star, he’s been so for well over 25 years, he doesnt need to pretend, he is one of the most respected frontmen around. I think his singing on the Exciter tour back in ’01 was pretty bad but he regained his voice on the subsequent tours.
I have to say that the song is really rough sounding with Personal Jesus totally sampled and played with. They are saying that the album sounds like Violator and SOFAD because those were their two highest charting records. Forget that they don’t have Alan Wilder and forget that they haven’t released anything really up to par since Ultra. I’m a super fan and I’m always hopeful, but I can’t hold my breath for this one.
RELIGION A LA MODE POR VIDA………AND FUCK THE REST………
I have three idols in my life.
Bjork, Depeche Mode, and Robert DeNiro. Why? Because they always surprised me, they go into directions I would never expect and being a creative myself, these guys are big time inspirations.
I am 48 years old, one year younger than Dave, I am into photography and graphic design. But I found motivation to push myself from song writers and actors, because no one leads the way like they do.
Listen, these guys, DM always reinvent themselves while remaining true to their spirit and essence. Just like Björk and Bobby, they always find that thin line that could attached them to their through nature, while pushing the envelop in a direction where no one could possibly expected them to go.
Find me another iconic personality that could possibly be on the same level as these guys in their art? Philip Seymour Hoffman? Yes. That’s it, the short list is done.
So I respect these guys so much, I an addicted to their work.
Each time I am listening to DM new songs, I ask myself: “Where the f-ck have they gone now?”… When they released “Wrong” for the first time, I was in a ryokan in Kyoto, and I had access to a computer in this little room. Well, I listened to their Youtube video over and over for days, while Sakura (cherry blossom) was going on… As I was visiting a friend in Netherlands right after this trip in Japan, he made me a copy of an unreleased pirate copy of the whole “Song of the Universe” album. As I was driving back from amsterdam to Groningen, listening the tracks over and over, I was asking myself:”What the f_ck have they done this time??? My friend being older than I am and being a fan of Pink Floyd, I was almost ashamed of always insisting on the genius of Martin Gore for lyrics and Dave Gahan for his incredible voice – no one can pretend to even come close to his immense talent.
Once I came back home in Montreal, my girlfriend offered me Song of the Universe box set, and only after a dozen of listening, did I finally embrace the incredible work these guys have achieved.
So I think it says a lot about the depth of their work, and even though these guys are humongous pop stars, although being still alternative, they are still underestimated for their contribution to music. Whatever groups anyone could possibly try to compare them with, no one can possibly challenged DM. The lyrics, the music, the layers, nothing I mean nothing can possibly come up with them.
So if for us, the fans, their new production doesn’t seem as obvious as we would expect, I consider that this is the best situation possible, because they never stay into a comfort zone.
Have you listened to Dave voices on Soulsavers??? It was amazing works, not even mentioning the lyrics that he had created. This record have been off the radar, but it is a masterpiece. A cult CD, a landmark in music references.
So here we are, about to receive what DM is ready to offered us. Just lucky enough to be alive at that moment in time, privileged to be able to receive what these guys have created for us. These guys are 50 years old, at an age where skill and talents are at the paramount.
I know we will be challenged. Don’t ever believed that their work will sound like Violators and Songs of Faith and Devotion. It won’t. This group knows how to reinvent themselves over and over again. What they meant is that it might be a little bit more grungy, more rugged then Ultra or Exciter, but it will still be ultimate DM. The stuff I can’t get enough of.
I don’t agree: http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/depeche-mode-close-down-hollywood-blvd-for-free-show-47748
– Golden