DAVE GAHAN レコード& CD

Review: Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan and Soulsavers come together for this new collaborative album on Columbia. The 10-man band recorded the sounds live at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California back at the end of 2019. Their own unique cover of Cat Power's 'Metal Heart?' is the lead single and opening track and from there covers come thick and fast. The great likes of Neil Young, PJ Harvey, Gene Clark, Bob Dylan and Mark Lanegan all pay tribute to and make for a third great outing for Gahan and Machin following 2015's Angels & Ghosts and 2012's The Light The Dead See.

Review: In many ways the critical reception to Dave Gahan's debut solo outing is still surprising. Mainly because a good number of critics seemed surprised at the depth and assurance of the record, which kind of seems to deny the fact this is the voice of Depeche Mode, arguably one of the finest bands to ever come out of the UK and certainly a group that understand what it means to layer musical textures and meld multiple themes.

'Stay' might be the best case in point. It's patient, it's elegant, there's a real air of sorrow but also you can't help feeling loved while listening to it. Balladry in the truest sense, the fact that track is sandwiched between the soft half-house music of 'I Need You' and the epic, theatrical anthem 'Black & Blue Again' is a case in point. A real journey.