Daniel Miller (b. 1951)
I just couldn’t get enough (sic.) of Depeche Mode’s music. Catchy, synthetic sometimes intense electro-bubblegum. What was intriguing was hearing lyrics that implied excitement for the future; and everyday sounds suddenly becoming musical.
The producer behind their early work and still a strong influence, was Daniel Miller who contributed much to the musical arrangement of their sound. In the songs below, my favourite moments are usually towards the end, when all the separate lines presented in the tracks come together and cycle in glorious polyphony.
Favourite pieces?: New Life (1981), Leave in Silence (1982), Get the Balance Right (1983), Strange Love (1987), Enjoy the Silence (1990), World in My Eyes (1990), Love Thieves (1997) and I Feel Loved (2001).
Perhaps Depeche Mode’s best album is Violator (1990).