Depeche Mode
Martyr

LA RECENSIONE

So, what can I say? I've been absent for months from this legendary database, and I find myself already with the best band in the world releasing new material under pressure from Mute. Ha ha ha!

So, where do we start? After finishing the tour of tours, that of the Angel, the virile forty-somethings from Basildon find themselves releasing material for a "Best of" that will see the light in November, which is nothing more than Volume 1 of a collection of the greatest hits that have brought those "overrated technopop artists" (according to some beings populating planet Earth) to a concrete and tangible Olympus. Many fans have been critical and are still annoyed because in the tracklist there is "New life" and "Stripped" is missing, but I couldn't care less, also because I already own those pearls in the rarest and most varied formats (boastful Breathing!).

But let's get to the new track that will feature alongside so many masterpieces… It comes straight from the sessions of the latest album "Playing the Angel," the one produced by the bespectacled Ben Hillier. And you can tell it's an ally of the Angel's tracks, both because it recalls the same tracks with its unmistakable sound and because, according to some, it resembles the B-sides "Free," "Newborn," and "Better days." Well, I say it is a track with great potential, that makes technopop its reason for being, and that fuses a sensational guitar riff with the best synthetic tradition. It will surely be subject to remixes, more or less horrendous, but what matters is the track as conceived by Gore and the production.

They are still Depeche Mode, those without Wilder, of course, but still grappling with synthetic music as in the best tradition. However, the style is very different from that of the vintage pieces. "Martyr" presents itself as an assertive track, it may be liked or seem insignificant. Noteworthy, however, is Gahan's voice, which seems to unleash all its vocal power, venturing with anger into a superb interpretation.

On YouTube, you can listen to the radio version at this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBOPJJkV4js

We will dance, we will dance...