With the group’s promotional efforts surrounding its latest album, Exciter, winding down, Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore and Dave Gahan will both use 2002 in part to work on solo albums. The project by guitarist/keyboardist Gore will be an all-covers album, while vocalist Gahan will concentrate on original material.
Gore will begin in earnest on his album this week. When he is to complete it, though, remains an unknown. “Because the band’s not doing too much I’ve decided to make a covers record, which means I don’t have to write. It’s just a question of choosing the right songs,” he said. “I’ve been planning it and I’ve got a short list of songs together but I don’t even know when I’ll finish it or when it will come out. Or whether I’ll finish it. If it’s fun, I’ll finish it.”
Gore’s only other solo release, the 1989 EP Counterfeit, was also an all-covers effort, including the Sparks song “Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth” and the traditional, “Motherless Child.” However, he has declined to elaborate on specific titles for this year’s project.
No other details are currently known surrounding Gahan’s effort.
Meanwhile, the Depeche Mode concert film, One Night In Paris, The Exciter Tour, will air on various Pay-Per-View (PPV) outlets from March 8-April 9. The movie captures the group last year at the sold-out, 16,000-capacity Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy. It was directed by longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn.