Album Review of Dave Gahan's Hourglass

Second Solo Release from the Depeche Mode Frontman

May 31, 2009

A jumbled yet interesting second release from Dave Gahan which sees the Depeche Mode man move into the familiar territory of dark electronic music.

Widely known as the Depeche Mode singer, Dave Gahan has also been forging a solo career of ambient rock and moody electronica. In the four year gap between his own releases he made another brilliant album with his band – Playing The Angel – which also marked his first song writing credits as a member of Depeche Mode.

But after that wait Gahan decided to go it alone once more by opening up his head and letting everyone have a look at the darkness inside.

Usually solo releases give artists the opportunity to move away from their roots and try new things without the complaints of other band members, but on Hourglass Gahan doesn’t stray to far from his band’s synth heavy, electronic base. Apart from adding more guitars and occasionally drifting into harsh industrial music (‘Deeper and Deeper’) this feels very much like a Depeche Mode album.

Most of these songs sound like they could have came from the mind of bandmate and multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore, putting long time followers of Gahan’s musical output in a very familiar place whether they want it or not. Even though it’s sometimes argued that synth pop should have died in the 80s, Gahan and his band mates are the part of the bunch of musicians who are able to get away with it and still make it fresh and exciting.

Gahan’s Faultless Voice

Like on Gahan's tracks from Playing The Angel guitarist Andrew Phillpott and drummer Christian Eigner act as his co-conspirators creating the dark, almost scary backdrop for the lyrical misery. As expected this is hardly the most upbeat of albums – with subjects ranging from drug addiction to questioning faith in God – but it’s still well crafted and Gahan’s voice is almost faultless and occasionally moving, especially on the brilliant opener ‘Saw Something’ (with RHCP’s John Frusciante churning out a nice guitar solo).

It’s hard to judge how accessible Hourglass is to a mass audience, because even though it is essentially a pop album – the first single ‘Kingdom’ proves this – Gahan injects the occasional moment of madness in the most random of places, such as the breakdown three minutes into ‘A Little Lie’ or in parts of ‘Insoluble’.

Hit-and-miss but a Decent Album

While Gahan comes across as a man still working on this song writing abilities this isn’t a bad solo attempt at all, although it is a bit hit-and-miss in places. Fans of his music will definitely remember the better moments like ‘Use You’ and over horrible messes like ’21 Days’ or the boring ‘Miracles’.

Still, it’s early days yet and many artists don’t even begin to start making the best music of their career until they’re at least into their third album. So who knows, perhaps his next attempt could mark his peak as a solo performer. Either way Hourglass is definitely a decent foundation to build off and it's not like Depeche Mode are ever going to fall out of fashion anyway.

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