[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Depeche Mode - Spirit.

A first time listen.

Justin suggested it was quite a samey album but i didn't think that at all. Following a strong start with the excellent Going Backwards and Where's the Revolution - two typical but inspiring Mode stormers, the album seems to go from strength to strength.

Track five - Your Move is a slinky number that will be a guaranteed fixture in sex dungeons for years to come and follow on Cover Me begins as a ballad but morphs into a Krautrock style stomp. Then we have a pivotal moment as Gahan's impassioned love song Eternal is a Berlin torch song Kurt Weill would have adored.

Hidden away at the end of the albums third quarter is So Much Love. It's the Mode at their very best, angry and heavy and i say this with a little hesitation as it's only the second time i've listened to it, but it may very well be the best thing they've done to these ears.

Fourteen albums in and maybe, just maybe, this is their most cohesive yet thanks to Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford's input, some of Martin Gore's best song writing and a superb vocal performance by Dave Gahan.