Dave Gahan may have put his attempted suicide and well-documented drug problems behind him with Depeche Mode's 1997 album 'Ultra', but he still inhabits a bleak, largely hope-free world thanks to band mate Martin L Gore's songs.
Not that we'd have it any other way. Four years on, the Mode's tenth studio album in twenty years finds them wallowing once again in melancholy, yearning and the pleasures of the flesh, this shadowy, stark, gothic blend of synths and guitars, urban blues and eerie soundtracks proving compelling if occasionally unsettling listening.
Blessed typically with meaty polished production, 'Exciter' is spattered with lyrical references to "the fever coming", "hanging from a rope of mediocrity", "a sad disease creeping through my mind" and "the dark night of my soul". In a way exploring the same inward looking themes as The The's Matt Johnson, this would sit nicely between Radiohead's 'Kid A' and Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine'. Yes it's that cheery.
Most of the tracks here are downtempo numbers like recent single 'Dream On', the chilling strings of 'When The Body Speaks', the reflective, beautiful ballad 'Freelove' -with the refrain "no hidden catch, no strings attached, just free love"- or 'Breathe' with it's 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' type subject matter and Martin Gore (taking over the mic from Gahan) going a bit Marc Almond-does-Scott Walker camp.
On the upbeat side we have the slowed down Glitter Band style raunchy stomp of 'The Dead Of Night' and the fantasic, crunchy piledriver of a forthcoming single 'I Feel Loved' - part New Order, part spooky sci-fi soundtrack.
But it's closing track 'Goodnight Lovers' (another Gore sung track) which proves the album's finest moment. The optimistic light at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel, it's almost a devotional hymn, gospelly harmonies backing an impressively tender, soulful vocal performance. A truly moving finale to an emotionally exhausting, sometimes excellent album.
