Sounds of the Universe
Sounds of the Universe is the twelfth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 April 2009 by Mute Records. The album was supported by the 2009–10 Tour of the Universe. Three singles were released from the album: "Wrong", "Peace", and a double A-side of "Fragile Tension" and "Hole to Feed". "Perfect" was also released in the United States as a promotional single.
Sounds of the Universe
The album was released by Virgin Records and Capitol Records in the United States and by EMI in Canada and Mexico, marking the first time in the band's catalog that saw distribution from EMI within North America, where previous albums were released by Sire Records and Reprise Records, both divisions of Warner Music Group.
Background and composition[edit]
While Dave Gahan was still busy with his solo album Hourglass (2007), Martin Gore was in his home studio in Santa Barbara, California, working on new songs. In May 2008, the band went to the studio to record their twelfth studio album.[3][4] Ben Hillier took the production reins again, because the band were so satisfied with their previous collaboration on Playing the Angel (2005). As with their previous album Playing the Angel, Gahan once again wrote three songs with Christian Eigner and Andrew Phillpott: "Hole to Feed", "Come Back", and "Miles Away/The Truth Is".[5] Gore shares lead vocal duties with Gahan on "In Chains", "Hole to Feed", "Peace", and "Little Soul". The band described the time in the studio as very productive, a total of 22 songs were created and it was difficult to choose the right songs for the album. Five of the songs not used on the album were released as part of the deluxe box set.[6] Short video clips of the band and production team at work in the studio were regularly posted on the band's homepage. This would be the first time that the band would openly post detailed clips of their recording process on social media.
Lyrically, this album has a good amount of personal lyrics. Gahan explained that the song "Hole to Feed" was written about the desire to fill a metaphorical hole but not knowing what to fill it up with.[7] The song "Wrong" was described by Gore to have a bit of black humor in its lyrics but doesn't want people to find it depressing.[8] Gore believed that "Peace" is one of the best songs he had ever written.[9] Even though the track "Miles Away/The Truth Is" is not inherently about drugs, Gahan feels like that subject is always present in his songs due to his past substance abuse.[10]
Musically, the album has a heavy use of analog synthesizers giving it a more traditional electronic sound. The opening track "In Chains" opens with synthesizers tuning up. "Wrong" was chosen to be the first single off the album since the band felt it sounded very different. Gahan described the track as having R&B influences while also being a rant.[11] Gahan explained that "Come Back" was going to sound more gospel but the band decided to make it into a wall of sound.[12]