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album // Speak & Spell
Released in 1981, Speak & Spell is an
album all too frequently overlooked in examinations of the best
synthpop albums of all time. It was released the same year as Human
League's Dare and Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret,
both of which have received the kind of canonisation that has thus
far eluded Speak & Spell. And yet it is a fundamentally
more intricate, consistent and in many ways more timelessly superior
album than both of those albums (and I should point out that I hold
both of those albums in very high regard). Arising out of a non-starter
deal with Soft Cell's home Some Bizarre (the first version
of Speak & Spell's 'Photographic' appeared on the seminal
Some Bizarre Album alongside an early Soft Cell song), Daniel
Miller took the naïve Basildon quartet under Mute's
wing, booking them into Blackwing Studios with Miller and Eric
Radcliffe at the controls to record their debut album. No contracts,
just handshakes runs the history. With more synths than a Moog warehouse
at their disposal, along with Miller's obsessive mastery of analogue
technology, the result was a futuristic, glossy but slightly left
of centre pop album, the realisation of Mute's early promise of
radio-friendly electro-pop, alluded to - but never realised - with
his own Silicon Teens material.
The early quartet of Vincent Clarke (formerly
Vincent Martin), Andrew 'Fletch' Fletcher, David
Gahan and Martin Lee Gore were still holding down full-time
jobs whilst recording Speak & Spell, despite successful
club tours. This drew out the recording sessions, with Gore and
Fletch arriving after finishing work in the City's financial heartland,
besuited and carrying takeaways for the evening sessions. At this
early stage, the majority of songs were written by Clarke, although
it was largely down to Gore to provide the central synth melodies.
Gahan provided much of the lead vocals with an absurd confidence
while Fletch quickly assumed his role as non-musical band member
and mouthpiece / confidante for the introverted Gore.
Clarke clearly learnt a lot from seeing Daniel Miller's
perfectionism with analogue technology, inspiring his own mastery
of electronic instruments which continued with Yazoo and
continues with Erasure and his sound design work with Martyn
Ware as Illustrious Company. He was here also able to
refine his ability to craft melodic pop gems - witness if you will
the shiny singles 'New Life' and 'Just Can't Get Enough', which
bookend the LP and cassette versions of this album.
That said, this isn't all uplifting pop - even back
in 1981 darker forces were at work. Despite an irrepressibly joyous
synth melody, track two ('I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead') contains
a submerged maudlin quality ('Playing on my radio / And saying
that you have to go'), with a harmonic middle eight that Kraftwerk
would find captivating - and yet is nudged onward by a bouncy rhythm.
As is 'Puppets', a bleak tune detailing manipulation and control,
which apparently was written about Vince Clarke's drug experiments
(yes, Vince Clarke's drug experiments - four words you wouldn't
expect to see together). Gahan's vocal is conspiratorially vengeful
in its near-whispered delivery, featuring a great blend of melodic
synths and vocal harmonising with Gore's softer voice. 'Boys Say
Go' starts off with some terrace-style shouting and moves forward
into a futuristic disco number with squelching synth arpeggiations
and liquid keyboard riffs.
'Nodisco' is a sleek and hypnotizing track whose
percussive synth noises would resurface in similar guise in Erasure's
cover of Abba's 'Lay All Your Love On Me' (honest!). Gahan's vocal
is doom-laden, impossibly low, surrounded by menacing noises and
moody synths. 'What's Your Name' is jaunty synthpop fluff that probably
unintentionally provides gender confusion ('Hey you're such a
pretty boy' sing the boys - can you imagine Gahan singing that
line now?) and a reasonable attempt at Beach Boys-esque harmonies.
Simultaneously reverentially nodding to sixties pop and indicating
how synths could be used within throwaway pop, you won't find many
stalwart Mode fans listing this among their favourite tracks.
'Photographic' kicks off side two, a dark, thudding
tune melding the shadows and isolation of a photo processing lab
with an element of stalking and black obsessiveness. The synths
too are both aggressive and plaintive. The bouncing synth arpeggios
filter straight into Gore's bleak,latin-influenced 'Tora! Tora!
Tora!', a very menacing, apocalyptic track that seems to produce
that first angst- and doubt-riddled vocal trademark from Dave Gahan.
'Big Muff' (no sniggers; apparently it's a famous type of distortion
pedal) is another Gore number, this time an energetic and cheerful
instrumental pop tune.
The vocal version of 'Any Second Now' is a beautiful
Vince Clarke ballad brought to life by a typically strident vocal
from Gore. Fragile, sparse and minimal, Vince would use the same
emotional formula right the way through Yazoo, The Assembly
and throughout Erasure's career. After that gem, 'Just Can't Get
Enough', officially the closing track, sounds even more magnificent.
The CD version adds several tracks and remixes,
all of which are available on the singles from the album, as well
as the debut Depeche single ('Dreaming Of Me', here with an unfaded
outro not available on the single, trivia fans) and its B-sides
(see forthcoming reviews).
No sooner was the album finished, Vince quit Depeche,
after his request to take a back-seat as songwriter was rejected.
Legend has it that before departing, to illustrate his proposal,
he offered the remaing trio a song which they rejected out of hand
as rubbish. That song was 'Only You', which became a number two
hit for Vince's project with Alison Moyet, Yazoo. Despite multi-million
worldwide album sales, Depeche Mode have never had a song reach
that high in the UK charts.
Track listing:
1. New Life
2. I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead
3. Puppets
4. Boys Say Go!
5. Nodisco
6. What's Your Name
7. Photographic
8. Tora! Tora! Tora!
9. Big Muff
10. Any Second Now (Voices)
11. Just Can't Get Enough
12. Dreaming Of Me (unfaded)*
13. Ice Machine*
14. Shout*
15. Any Second Now*
16. Just Can't Get Enough (Schizo Mix)*
* Bonus tracks not featured on LP/Cassette
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