Electro legends Depeche Mode are back.

Eclectic and energised, the band’s new release, 'Sounds Of The Universe' continues the strong form the band showed on their last album.

Recorded in Santa Barbara and New York, Depeche Mode returned to using a lot of vintage gear, from analogue synthesisers to drum machines, in order to conjure up the retro-futuristic arrangements featured on the album.

Lyrically the release contains many of the group's enduring obsessions plus more overt black humour than any of their previous collections.

Like their 2005 studio album, ‘Playing The Angel’, ‘Sounds Of The Universe’ features writing credits for both Martin Gore, the group’s primary songwriter, and Dave Gahan who after honing his talents on two solo albums, has earned his place as Depeche Mode’s second writer.

The release also marks a reunion between the band and producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves, Elbow), who worked with the band to help give their new album its timeless sound.

The first single from the release, ‘Wrong’, grabs the listener’s attention from its first stack-heeled, staccato shriek. Over stomping beats, screeching synthesisers, and Gahan's overlord chant, ‘Wrong’ already feels like a Depeche Mode classic.

Other standout tracks include Gore's velvet-lined Scott Walker croon on the sensual lounge-music ballad ‘Jezebel’, to the sci-fi gospel-blues hymn ‘In Chains’ and ‘Hole To Feed’, which marries modern electronics to a floor-shaking, bone-rattling Bo Diddley beat.

As one of the most influential bands of the post-punk era, with global sales in excess of 100 million, Depeche Mode belongs to a select premier league of super groups who have survived from the early 1980s with their ideals, creative vision and core members intact.

To celebrate the release of 'Sounds Of The Universe', we're giving away five hampers courtesy of EMI. If you're a lucky winner, you'll get the new album as well as a Depeche Mode T-shirt, mouse pad and sticker. Nothing 'Wrong' with that.

Simply answer this simple question to stand a chance of winning:


Name one of the members of Depeche Mode
 

Fill in your details:

First Name:
Last Name:
Email Address:
Contact Number:
Postal Code:
Province
Gender: Female Male
Age:
 
Competition rules
  • One completed entry per person, per competition.
  • Winners will be contacted by email or telephone and announced on the iafrica.com site.
  • The prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.
  • The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Closing date: 30 May 2009
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