Depeche Mode

Delta Machine (Columbia)

In algebra you learned that delta stands for change, but 33 years into their career, Depeche Mode’s done with the next step. Rather, this Delta Machine refers to the Mississippi variety, throwing back to the kind of electronic blues the UK threepiece perfected with Alan Wilder on 1990’s Violator. David Gahan still seethes through the blues, dripping with a sinister sneer on “Angel” and “The Child Inside,” but overall it seems more like Depeche Mode is doing its best impression of, well, itself. The camp is layered on thick, just as it always was, yet this time it crosses the thin line these electro pioneers once walked with ease. Even the strongest track, “Heaven,” loses its gravity after a few spins. (8pm, AMD stage)

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This article appears in October 4 • 2013.

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