Spirit (Depeche Mode album)

Spirit is the fourteenth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released on 17 March 2017 by Columbia Records and Mute Records. The album was recorded with new producer James Ford, and was preceded by the single "Where's the Revolution".

Spirit
Studio album by
Depeche Mode
Released17 March 2017 (2017-03-17)
RecordedApril–August 2016
Studio
Length49:23
Label
ProducerJames Ford
Depeche Mode chronology
Delta Machine
(2013)		 Spirit
(2017)
Singles from Spirit
  1. "Where's the Revolution"
    Released: 3 February 2017
  2. "Going Backwards"
    Released: 23 June 2017
  3. "Cover Me"
    Released: 6 October 2017

Background and promotion

On 11 October 2016, the band announced that they would embark on the Global Spirit Tour to support the album. The tour kicked off in Solna, Sweden, on 5 May 2017 and ended on 25 July 2018 in Berlin, Germany.[1] The Global Spirit Tour would go on to become the band's largest tour and would see the band play to millions of fans around the world. The final two shows of the Global Spirit Tour were recorded for their concert film and documentary, Spirits In The Forest, released in theaters in 2019 and is set for a home release on June 26, 2020.

Much of the inspiration behind Spirit arose from their distaste of the political climate in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In an interview with Vevo, Dave Gahan stated, "We're really kind of upset about what's going on in the world."[2] In the same interview, after hearing about being praised by alt-right activist Richard Spencer, Gahan called him out and did not want to be associated with him or the alt-right. Depeche Mode would embrace their political message heavily in the music video for "Where's The Revolution" which represents the band in a very marxist style.[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.6/10[4]
Metacritic74/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[7]
The Guardian[8]
The Independent[9]
Mojo[10]
The Observer[11]
Pitchfork6.8/10[12]
Q[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Uncut7/10[15]

Spirit received generally positive reviews from critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 24 reviews.[5] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic stated, "Robust and fearless, Spirit may end up being one of the earliest and best salvos of its political era. Despite dour lyrics to the contrary, Depeche Mode haven't given up on humanity".[6] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Pitchfork wrote that "Spirit is so convincing in spite of its radical shift in tenor. For both the band and audience, that shift couldn't have come at a better time".[12] Kitty Empire of The Guardian stated that "By the time cosseted arena bands reach their 37th year, their need to engage with the real world is moot, but here’s Martin Gore – DepMo’s chief songwriter – lambasting greedy corporations"[16]. Various critics have cited the album's conscious lyrics and bleak instrumentals as a positive aspect.

In contrast to the generally positive reviews, Andy Gill of The Independent criticized the album, stating that "Depeche Mode get serious and political, which doesn’t really suit them." [17]. While many critics praised the band's ability to tackle political and social commentary, a decent amount were left unsatisfied.

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 2017 2017 84[18]

Commercial performance

Spirit debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart with 23,658 units sold in its first week, becoming the band's 17th top-10 album in the United Kingdom.[19] The following week, it dropped out of the top 10 to number 17 with sales of 5,658 copies.[20] The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, selling 64,000 album-equivalent units (62,000 in pure album sales).[21] Even though Spirit's first week of sales wasn't as successful as Delta Machine's in the United Kingdom, Spirit's first week out performed Delta Machine's first week of sales in the United States by 12,000 album-equivalent units.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Going Backwards" 5:43
2."Where's the Revolution" 4:59
3."The Worst Crime" 3:48
4."Scum" 3:14
5."You Move"
3:50
6."Cover Me"
4:52
7."Eternal" 2:25
8."Poison Heart"
  • Gahan
  • Gordeno
  • Eigner
3:17
9."So Much Love" 4:29
10."Poorman" 4:26
11."No More (This Is the Last Time)"
  • Gahan
  • Kurt Uenala
3:13
12."Fail" 5:07
Total length:49:23
Deluxe edition bonus disc[22]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cover Me" (Alt Out)
  • Gahan
  • Gordeno
  • Eigner
4:27
2."Scum" (Frenetic Mix) 5:26
3."Poison Heart" (Tripped Mix)
  • Gahan
  • Gordeno
  • Eigner
4:16
4."Fail" (Cinematic Cut) 5:38
5."So Much Love" (Machine Mix) 7:20
Total length:27:07

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Spirit.[23]

Depeche Mode

Additional musicians
  • Matrixxman – programming
  • Kurt Uenala – programming (all tracks); electric bass (tracks 8, 11)
  • James Ford – drums (tracks 1–6, 8–12); pedal steel (track 6)

Technical
  • James Ford – production, mixing
  • Jimmy Robertson – engineering, mix engineering
  • Connor Long – studio assistance
  • Óscar Muñoz – studio assistance
  • David Schaeman – studio assistance
  • Brendan Morawski – studio assistance, mix assistance
  • Brian Lucey – mastering

Artwork
  • Anton Corbijn – cover, all visuals, art direction, design
  • SMEL – design

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[66] Platinum 100,000
Germany (BVMI)[67] Gold 100,000
Hungary (MAHASZ)[68] Platinum 2,000
Italy (FIMI)[69] Gold 25,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[70] 3× Platinum 60,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[71] Gold 10,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 800,000[72]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References
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  9. Gill, Andy (22 March 2017). "Album reviews: Drake – More Life, The Jesus And Mary Chain – Damage And Joy, and more". The Independent. London. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
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  13. Segal, Victoria (April 2017). "Keyboard Warriors". Q. No. 370. London. p. 98.
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