Electronic music pioneers Depeche Mode have been consistent advocates of the 12″ vinyl format since they began their storied career over three-decades ago. Since 1981 they’ve tapped a who’s who of remixers from a host of genres to reimagine their songs. With a considerable vault of material to their credit, the band have decided to re-release all of their singles on wax in the form of carefully curated audiophile-quality box sets, with audio remastered from the original tapes and cut at Abbey Road Studios in London.
According to the group, the artwork for the exterior of each of the new box sets “draws on street art iconography inspired by the original releases, while the vinyl sleeves themselves feature the original vinyl single artwork.”
The reissues begin rolling out on August 31 with Speak & Spell | The 12″ Singles and A Broken Frame | The 12″ Singles (see tracklisting below).
Depeche Mode is currently in the midst of the Global Spirit Tour, a worldwide jaunt supporting their fourteenth album, Spirit, released in 2017.
Obligatory press release gush from Depeche Mode, who recently partnered with Swiss watchmaker Hublot to raise $1.7 million for clean drinking water: “Our 12″ singles have always been incredibly important to the band. It’s great to be able to re-share these songs with old and new fans in the way they were originally intended to be experienced. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.”
Speak & Spell | The 12″ Singles (pictured top) contains a facsimile reproduction of the rare FlexiPop flexi-disc “Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead” & “King of the Flies” (the Fad Gadget track as on the original release); Dreaming Of Me 12″: “Dreaming of Me” b/w “Ice Machine”; New Life 12″: “New Life (Remix)” b/w “Shout! (Rio Mix)”; Just Can’t Get Enough 12″: “Just Can’t Get Enough (Schizo Mix)” b/w “Any Second Now (Altered)”; original single poster reproduction; download card.
A Broken Frame | The 12″ Singles contains See You 12″ (pictured middle): “See You (Extended Version)” b/w “Now, This Is Fun (Extended Version)”; The Meaning Of Love 12″: “The Meaning Of Love (Fairly Odd Mix)” b/w “Oberkorn (It’s A Small Town) (Development Mix)”; Leave In Silence 12″: “Leave In Silence (Longer)” b/w “Further Excerpts From: My Secret Garden” and “Leave In Silence (Quieter)”; original single poster reproduction; download card.