This album is much more in line with the sound of Gahan’s day job than 2003’s Paper Monsters. There’s much more of a groove going on here. During Paper Monsters, Gahan was nervously finding his feet. Here, he sounds a lot more comfortable in his own voice. This is particularly true of first single ‘Kingdom.’ Depeche Mode-ish in sound, with rich, dense keyboard passages, if there is any justice, this will be a megahit. This is a very angry record. Gahan rages at the world and, more often, at the way in which we human beings treat each other. This is particularly true of the album’s standout track, ‘A Little Lie,’ which calls to mind recent overreactions to ‘scandals,’ like documentary re-jigging, to great effect. While the subject matter and sounds on Paper Monsters seemed borrowed, here, Gahan owns everything, his voice lording it up over soundscapes to great effect.
