Delta Machine

_Delta Machine_ is a fitting title for the thirteenth studio album from British electronic pop outfit Depeche Mode: it’s a cold, mechanical record that lacks human touch.**

The album’s opener, ‘Welcome To My World’, is a dull, droning track, salvaged only by its more harmonious, lilting chorus: a dynamic that sets a precedent for the sultry body of subsonic, industrial noise that makes up the rest of the album, cut through occasionally by a much needed melodic lift.

Musically, _Delta Machine_ heralds an flashback to **Depeche Mode**’s electronic aesthetic of the ’80s, epitomised by the juddering synth-pop of ‘Soft Touch/Raw Nerve’ and a pervasive low-end growl, most distinctive in ‘Angel’. Lyrically, however, songwriter Martin Gore retraces his steps through the ’90s, his unyielding emphasis on sex and spirituality resonating with the themes of _Violator_ and _Songs Of Faith And Devotion_. This marriage of nostalgic forays into sonic and lyrical themes is, however, an ultimately unhealthy blend. It’s not long before the album’s barrage of industrial effects and David Gahan’s baritone, pseudo-spiritual laments begin to grate, rendering Delta Machine a pale shadow of **Depeche Mode**’s former greatness.

_Delta Machine_ is not an unadventurous record, with ‘Slow’ and ‘Goodbye’ absorbing bluesy guitar riffs into a pulsing electronic wilderness. These, however, are merely unconvincing experiments, as these guitar licks sound tinny, feeble and repetitive in such a swamp of subterranean bass synth. Nevertheless, _Delta Machine_’s dark aesthetic can – and does – work well at times: ‘Soothe My Soul’ achieves a dark sensuality that ‘Slow’ and ‘Welcome To My World’ overcook to the point of sleaziness, while ‘Heaven’ provides the hook that the album as a whole is crying out for, demonstrating the vocal prowess of both Gahan and Gore.

**Depeche Mode**’s most recent offering is a gloomy affair. While the melodic lifts of ‘Soft Touch/Raw Nerve’, ‘Heaven’ and ‘Soothe My Soul’ ease some of the bottom-heavy melancholy of _Delta Machine_, they do not suffice to redeem this unremarkable album. The lines “I’ll penetrate your soul / I’ll bleed into your dreams” from ‘Welcome To My World’ encapsulate the record’s irritating lyrical melodrama, while the album’s strident synths seem to suggest a very ropey re-hashing of the band’s ’80s vibe – _Black Celebration_ gone horribly wrong. Perhaps _Delta Machine_ merely confirms a sad but inevitable truth: that **Depeche Mode**’s better days are firmly behind them.

**Similar To:** Erasure, New Order

**MP3:** ‘Soothe My Soul’, ‘Heaven’