Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel : Its 20 years since I discovered Depeche Mode, maybe a little more - and every time they release an album my anticipation is the same, my reaction is the same and I end up feeling exactly the same about their music. The first single ‘Precious’ emerged a few weeks ago, and I was less than impressed - it sounded like a weak ‘Enjoy the Silence’ to me, and without its requiste dance remixes, I really wasn’t feeling it - but my excitement at the forthcoming album grew all the same. When ‘Playing the Angel’ finally dropped, I was right on the case and suddenly Precious all made sense…there it was in the whole journey of the album and I finally got it, and thats the message here - DM truly are an album band, this is no exception and it grows on me with each listen. From the grinding, buzzing opening of ‘Pain that I’m used to’, with modulating keyboards and smooth vocals, through the cover of the 1930’s ‘John the Revelator’ and the anthemic ‘Nothings Impossible’ - once again they get it completely right. Dave Gahan is now credited in the writing, but still you can hear the edginess of Martin Gore in Damaged People, my standout track is Lillian - an outstanding electro sounding tune, with a typical DM chorus ‘pain and misery always hit the spot…knowing you can’t lose what you haven’t got’. Truly they never fail to impress - changing styles very delicately, using different producers and techniques, but retaining the essence of what they are about. Superb. No more words.