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album // Hourglass
Whereas Paper Monsters, Dave
Gahan's first solo album, leant much more towards the howling
electro-augmented rock sound of Depeche Mode's
Songs Of Faith And Devotion, Gahan's second solo album
finds him embracing the twisted, dark electronic sounds of later
Depeche albums with nary a guitar - at least not an unprocessed
one - in sight. Far from being the difficult second album, Hourglass
is in many ways a more studied, complete affair, more sonically
rich and adventurous. The album was supported by two singles –
'Kingdom' and 'Saw Something' (backed with a remixed 'Deeper And
Deeper'). 'Kingdom' was also featured on the soundtrack for Lost
Boys: The Tribe. High praise indeed.
Gahan's writing, though never undertaken completely
on his own, has grown in confidence significantly since the comparatively
tentative Paper Monsters. His contributions to Playing
The Angel (co-written with Andrew Philpott
and Christian Eigner) signalled a shift upward
in quality, and that growth is fully realised on Hourglass. It may
lack Martin L. Gore's assured finesse at times,
and the absence of his Depeche companion on backing vocals leaves
Gahan somewhat naked, but I shouldn't complain - this is the best
Depeche Mode album Depeche Mode have never produced. In the interview
on the accompanying DVD, Gahan talks of 'wanting to expose myself
more,' that he was 'trying to find out who I am,' even quoting Tom
Waits since he was 'starting to find my own voice.' It all sounds
rather unoriginal, but there is a definite change in quality from
the naive Paper Monsters.
Hourglass had its origins in his contribution
to Playing The Angel. Gahan wrote 15 songs with Philpott
and Eigner for that album's recording sessions, three of which made
it onto record. One song from those 15, 'Saw Something' was going
to be offered to Gore and Andrew Fletcher. 'I bottled
it in the end,' says Gahan. That unrealised song would continue
to haunt Gahan, and became the seed of Hourglass. Philpott
describes the writing and recording of the album as being 'remarkably
easy,' and the entire album was written and recorded in just eight
weeks; if only Depeche Mode worked this quickly.
'Use You' starts as a minimal blues number and opens
out into a sinewy, nihilistic primal song. Its lyrics are delivered
with a masochistic glee by Gahan while storming guitars drive the
urgency forward. Okay, so at times it sounds a little like a uber-Goth
'Black Velvet', but we'll forgive the Gahan / Philpott / Eigner
team for that. 'Deeper And Deeper' has a title that sounds like
it should be on a gleeful hard house compilation but is instead
a clattering, dark electro dirge, finding Gahan's voice run through
sinister effects as on Depeche's 'Dead Of Night' over all manner
of processed drums and dirty, droning synths. For me, it's one of
the album's dark highlights, if that's not an oxymoron. The same
'vibe' carries through into 'Endless', that same sense of sexual
danger permeating the song.
Referencing a Babel of sorts, '21 Days' finds Gahan
coo-ing the soulful backing vocals that would have ordinarily been
delivered by Gore, while a slow-motion funk bassline propels this
sluggish track forward, its Biblical retelling of building a tower
having a futile, weary quality to it, with subtle guitar licks and
controlled bursts of distortion perfectly fitting the mood. I can't
help but think of 'Monument' from 1982's A Broken Frame
when I hear this, just because of that futility. 'Miracles' finds
Gahan dreamy and wide-eyed, singing a tender love song over a gentle
backdrop of murmuring, tremelo bass and delicate synths - it could
almost be a cover of Angelo Badalamenti's title theme for 'Twin
Peaks' if it wasn't so pretty. According to the DVD interview with
Philpott and Eigner, 'Miracles' came out of Eigner singing into
a vocoder and Philpott playing bass after downing a few beers; unlikely,
but apparently true. 'Insoluble' is fractured electronics and glitchy
noises, Gahan's often confusing lyrics being simultaneously filled
with regret and temptation; it's difficult to know whether it's
meant to be enticing or if it's trying to provide a warning to whoever
Gahan is imagining himself singing to, but that dichotomy is engaging
and nonetheless.
'A Little Lie' is one of the album's dramatic highlights,
sharing some of the edgy guitar effects that dominated something
like Songs Of Faith And Devotion's 'Higher Love', all the
more emotional given the faltering quiet-loud-quiet nature of the
song. 'Calm down people,' sings Gahan with almost a weary
tone, then allowing his voice to soar with trademark angst and effortlessness.
'Down' is the obligatory slow-motion album closer, faltering drum
beats and wobbly bass notes guiding Gahan's tired and resigned vocals
toward the album's conclusion.
The limited CD+DVD package comes with an illuminating
17-minute interview with Gahan, Philpott and Eigner, along with
unnecessary talking head chat from music journalist Ken Scrudato,
who continually tries to link the songs on Hourglass to Dave's well-documented
difficulties in the Nineties, describing Gahan as being on a path
to finding answers. '[He] won't have a problem existing outside
Depeche Mode and becoming more comfortable in Depeche Mode' is one
of his more risible but supposedly insightful comments. I only hope
he refused payment of any sort. During the interview, Gahan mentions
that Daniel Miller was really enthusiastic about
Hourglass, simultaneously revealing that he and Mute were
dubious about Paper Monsters, which seems a bit uncharitable
if you ask me; certainly that didn't come across in the enthusiastic
press release from the time.
During the interview Gahan comes across as genial
and settled, his accent slipping between Manhattan and Essex often
in the same sentence. The interview is cut with studio footage of
Gahan singing tracks from the LP with Tony Hoffer on guitar, Graham
Finn on bass, Eigner on drums and Bruce Brody on keyboards. Proving
that you can't take the Basildon out of the man, after a John Frusciante-free
version of 'Saw Something' he turns to Brody and says 'That was
a keep-ah,' with his best Saaarrfffend seafront chirpiness. The
DVD also includes the unedited studio session and the weird promo
video for 'Kingdom'.
2xlp/cd/lcd/xlcd/i:
A1. / 1. Saw Something
A2. / 2. Kingdom
B1. / 3. Deeper And Deeper
B2. / 4. 21 Days
B3. / 5. Miracles
C1. / 6. Use You
C2. / 7. Insoluble
D1. / 8. Endless
D2. / 9. A Little Lie
D3. / 10. Down
li bonus tracks:
11. Kingdom (Digitalism Remix)
12. Use You (K10K Remix)
13. Deeper And Deeper (SHRUBBN!! Dub)
xlcd dvd chapters:
1. Hourglass: A Short Film
2. Kingdom (Video)
3. Saw Something (Studio Session)
4. Miracles (Studio Session)
5. Kingdom (Studio Session)
6. A Little Lie (Studio Session)
7. Endless (Video Mongtage)
8. Untitled
9. Untitled
10. Untitled
Chapters 8, 9 and 10 are three home studio session
clips that can be accessed by playing out the credits clip. The
first depicts Andrew trying to record the click sound his camera
makes, the second shows Andrew and Christian doing a recording,
the last clips shows briefly Dave playing a bass guitar. All were
filmed by Dave Gahan.
single // Kingdom
Review forthcoming.
7"/cd/i2:
A. / 1. Kingdom (Single Version)
B. / 2. Tomorrow
12":
A1. Kingdom (Digitalism Remix)
A2. Kingdom (Digitalism Dub)
AA1. Kingdom (Booka Shade Club Mix)
AA2. Kingdom (Booka Shade Dub Mix)
l12":
A. Kingdom (Ralphi + Jody's Extended Vocal)
B. Kingdom (Rosario's Big Room Vocal)
cd:
1. Kingdom (Single Version)
2. Tomorrow
lcd/i3:
1. Kingdom (Single Version)
2. Kingdom (Digitalism Remix)
3. Kingdom (Booka Shade Club Mix)
4. Kingdom (K10K Extended Mix)
5. Kingdom (Video)
xlcd– repress in jewel case:
1. Kingdom (Single Version)
2. Kingdom (Digitalism Remix)
3. Kingdom (Booka Shade Club Mix)
4. Kingdom (K10K Extended Mix)
5. Kingdom (Video)
i1:
1. Kingdom (Single Version)
i4:
1. Kingdom (Studio Session)
single // Saw Something / Deeper And Deeper
Review forthcoming.
7":
A. Saw Something (Single Version)
B. Deeper And Deeper (SHRUBBN!! Single Version)
12":
A1. Saw Something (Single Version)
A2. Deeper And Deeper (Juan MacLean Dub)
AA1. Deeper And Deeper (SHRUBBN!! Single Version)
AA2. Love Will Leave (Kap10Kurt Remix)
cd/lcd/i1:
1. Saw Something (Single Version)
2. Deeper And Deeper (SHRUBBN!! Single Version)
3. Love Will Leave (Das Shadow's Rewerk)
4. Deeper And Deeper (Juan MacLean Club Mix)
i2:
1. Saw Something (GWZ Rework)
2. Deeper And Deeper (Sebastien Leger Remix)
3. Deeper And Deeper (T. Raumschmiere Remix Edit)
4. Love Will Leave (Das Shadow's Rewerk)
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