Depeche Mode are back, releasing their 14th studio album which the British synth-pop musicians describe as “bleak”.
The Syrian conflict and rise of nationalism in Europe are cited by the band as inspiration for their songs on “Spirit”.
“I think it is a quite bleak album, it doesn’t view humanity very kindly but … by calling it ‘Spirit’, maybe that helps to get us back on the right path,” guitarist and keyboardist Martin Gore told Reuters in an interview, reports Reuters.
“We knew it was a little bit dangerous to make an album that could be construed as being political but we felt that it was necessary in these times.”
The group, which was formed in the 1980s, premiered their latest work at a Berlin concert on Friday night.
The first single “Where’s the Revolution?” was inspired in 2015.
“The world was not as bad as it is today but there were a lot of things going on, one of the big things for me was Syria, maybe it’s got worse but it was awful back then,” Gore said.
“Nationalism is popular again… Remember the last time we saw nationalism before the Second World War, and there’s potential for some really bad things to happen,” keyboardist Andrew Fletcher said, adding the group were “not known for making political statements.”
